HOME GEOGRAPHY 
FOR PRIMARY GRADES 




HAROLD W- FAIRBANKS 

■ i 




Class -9-Zi— 
Book i 







Copyright^ Xf/c*. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/homegeography01fair 



HOME 
GEOGRAPHY 



BY 

HAROLD W. FAIRBANKS, Ph. D. 

Author of "Stories of Our Mother Earth," etc. 



REVISED EDITION 



EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING CO. 

New York Chicago Boston San Francisco 






Copyright, 1903, 1913, 1914 

BY 

EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 



Copyright, 1915 

BY 

EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 



AUG 26 1915 



'CI.A410222 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Earth Upon Which We Live . . . . . ,11 

The Soil 15 

How the Soil is Made ........ 18 

What Plants Need . 25 

The Seasons ' . . . . 29 

How the Seasons Affect Plants and Animals . • . .34 

Three Forms of Water ........ 39 

Where the Water Comes From 43 

The Wind 48 

The Clouds 52 

Springs 58 

Everything has Weight ........ 63 

Water Works for Us ........ 66 

The Surface of the Land . . . . . . .71 

The Ocean . 76 

The Work of the <Jcean . . . . . . . .80 

How the River made the Valley 84 

The Summer Stream 89 

What is Climate? 93 

What We Learned by Climbing a Mountain . . . .97 

Story of a Mountain 104 

Something about Lakes .108 

What Rocks are Made of 112 

Where Minerals are Found 116 

The Inhabitants of the Water 121 

The Sprouting Seed . . " . -^. $lil . - • . -126 

Where the Flowers Grow 130 

3 



4 CONTENTS 

Some Common Trees . . 137 

Something about the Birds . 143 

Something about the Wild Animals 147 

Homes of the Animals 154 

Our Homes 159 

How People Used to Travel 167 

Traveling To-day 171 

Occupations 177 

Trade and Commerce .181 

Hunting and Fishing 185 

Farming ■. 189 

Stock Raising - . 194 

Lumbering 199 

The Country Store 208 

Something about a City 211 

The Making of Sugar 216 

What the Cow Furnishes Us 221 

The Story of the Silkworm .224 

The Home in the Desert 230 

The Home by the Ocean 233 

What is a Map? . 237 



INTRODUCTION. 

Too much has been expected of young children in the study ot 
geography. Many of the so-called primary geographies are really 
not primary. They present a multitude of facts the most of which 
are beyond the power of the child to comprehend or retain. 

Childhood is a period of active memory, but this is no reason 
why we should attempt to cram the mind with details of geography. 
Facts themselves are of no value. It is only in their relations that 
they become significant. 

For the child of ten years it is not sufficient that facts be pre- 
sented in their relations, but that these relations be such as will arouse 
interest through connection with the child's own experiences. 

To expect a child in the fourth grade to draw a map of the state 
in which it lives, locate the principal rivers, valleys, mountains, bays, 
cities, and name and locate the counties, is wrong. Parrot-like memo- 
rizing of such facts, at that age, can result only in harm. The facts 
mean nothing and create a distaste for the work. 

We must start from home, from the environment of the child. We 
must build upon what has already become a part of its life. Defini- 
tions and disconnected facts cannot be assimilated. 

In the home surroundings we can get the materials which, if 
properly used, may be made the basis for the superstructure in 
geography. The mind expands as the experiences increase. What 
the child has seen and felt itself must be the basis for an increase of 
knowledge. 

The home is a little world. Here in miniature are the features 
of the great world outside. The forms of land and water, the animals 
and plants, the occupations and industries of men are represented. 

S 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

When these are understood in their simple relations the child can 
reach out and take hold of what he has not seen. 

This work must be accomplished chiefly through the imagina- 
tion, an important factor in the education of children. In their play 
the piece of wood may be a ship, and the water in the basin or pond 
the ocean. Let us watch this natural reaching out and then we shall 
be prepared to aid it. 

Interest is another important factor. The weaving of the new, 
the unexplored, with the old and familiar in such a manner as to 
arouse the interest and attention fixes the new as no other method 
can. 

If the natural method is followed, the child-mind will grow 
almost unconsciously, taking in and assimilating the materials of 
knowledge, which if presented in an artificial and uninteresting man- 
ner, would require laborious effort to fix. 

If we use the term nature study for the most elementary work 
in geography, where the effort is not so much to impart information 
as to cultivate clear and discriminating observational powers, then 
the work of the third and fourth grades should be only an enlarg d 
and expanded nature study. 

But whether we call it nature or geography study, we should not 
forget the chief object to be accomplished. 

In this little book the author has attempted not to impart infor- 
mation as such, but to get at the meaning of phenomena by showing 
the relation existing between their various manifestations. Things 
have far more interest attached to them when we know their history; 
how they came to be as they are. 

The child wants to know the "why" of what it sees, and in the 
explanation of this "why" its imagination is developed and interest 
aroused as in no other way. 

Harold W. Fairbanks. 




THE WONDERFUL WORLD. 

Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful World 
With the wonderful water around you curled, 
And the wonderful grass upon your breast — 
World, you are beautifully dressed. 

The wonderful air is over me, 
And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree, 
It walks on the water and whirls the mills, 
And talks to itself on the tops of the hills. 

You, friendly Earth, how far do you go, 

With the wheatfields that nod and the rivers that flow, 

With cities, and gardens, and cliffs, and isles, 

And people upon you for thousands of miles ? 

— W. B. Rands. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 

THE EARTH UPON WHICH WE LIVE. 

We are going to learn about the earth upon 
which we live. This earth is made up of many 
things. 

First, there is the land where our homes are. 
Then there is water, which we find in the hollows of 
the land. Besides the land and the water there is 
the air. We cannot see the air, but it surrounds us 
on all sides. 

We could not live without land, water, and air. 
The land furnishes us the most of our food. The 
land is the home of many kinds of animals and 
plants. Some of the animals live upon plants, others 
eat the flesh of weaker animals. We use both plants 
and animals for food and depend upon them for our 
clothing also. 

Every living thing needs water. Many plants 
and animals spend the whole of their lives in the 
water. 

Some animals are fitted to move through the 



12 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

air. We see them flying here and there. Each 
animal is fitted for the place in which we find it. 
Fish sv/im in the water. Horses walk or run upon 
the land. Birds fly through the air. 

The air has many uses. It carries the clouds 
from the ocean. The clouds make the raindrops 
which water the earth. Where it does not rain we 
find neither grass nor flowers. 

The land and water are not at all alike. We 
can walk upon the land, but we sink into the water. 

The top of the water is level. The surface of 
the land is uneven. In some places it is so rough 
that we can hardly climb over it. 

In the valleys between the hills are the rippling 
streams. The water of the streams is running as 
fast as it can toward the hollows in the land. In 
the little hollows we find lakes and ponds of water. 
The oceans lie in the great hollows of the land. 
The pond in the little hollow may be so small that 
you can jump across it. The oceans are so wide 
that you cannot see the land on the other side of 
them. 

All over the earth we find busy people. In the 
valleys they are farming. In the mountains they 
are digging for gold and other minerals. They are 
sailing back and forth upon the oceans carrying 
many things from one land to another. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 1 3 

In some places there are great cities where 
many people live. They are all at work like the ants 
in their busy home. Some of the people in the cities 
are doing one kind of work, some are doing another. 

Are you not glad to live in a world full of so 
many interesting things? Do you not want to learn 
all about it? We must not spend all of our time in 
play. We will take a part of every day to learn more 
about the strange and beautiful things around us. 

By and by we shall grow up and become men 
and women. Then we shall have to work. The 
more we learn about the world the easier our work 
will be. The world will be our happy home. 




WHERE THE SOIL IS DEEP AND RICH. 



THE SOIL. 

How nice it is to play in the soft dirt. The 
wind also likes to play with the dirt. It picks up 
the dirt and blows it in our faces. 

When the rain plays with the dirt it makes 
mud. How the mud sticks to our feet, and leaves 
dirty tracks upon mother's clean floor. The mud 
soils our hands and clothes. Is there anyone who 
does not know how to make mud pies? 

We sometimes wish there was no dirt. What 
do you suppose would happen if our wish should 
come true? There would be no green fields. There 
would be no pretty meadows with their carpet of 
flowers. 

Perhaps you know what the gardener calls the 
dirt in the fields. Did you ever hear him speak of 
the soil? He says that plants will not grow well if 
the soil is poor. 

Let us find out what the soil is made of. Run 
out to the garden and get a handful of the dirt or soil. 
It feels fine and soft in our fingers. Here and there 
we find little hard grains and pieces of plant stems. 

Now place the soil in a basin of water and 

is 



1 6 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

shake it well. The water becomes muddy. It looks 
like the water which you see running" down the street 
when it rains. Put your hand in the basin and at 
the bottom you can feel something soft like mud. 

Pour the muddy water. out of the basin into 
another dish. Pour in more water and again shake 
the basin. Turn off the muddy water as before. 
After you have done this a number of times the mud 
will be gone. Now the water remains quite clear. 

Let us see what there is left of the soil. There 
in the bottom of our basin is a thin layer of sand. 
It looks much like the sand by the brook or upon 
the beach, but the grains are not of the same size. 
The larger grains have sharp points. 

The sand by the brook was once mixed with 
clay. The water as it ran along finally washed the 
clay away and carried it down toward the river. 
The grains of sand were made smooth, so that we 
can find no sharp points upon them. 

Let us turn now to our jar of muddy water. 
After it has stood some hours the water no longer 
looks dirty. The fine particles of clay or mud which 
floated in the water have settled to the bottom. The 
clay feels very soft and slippery. There are no 
grains of sand in it. 

Is there anything else in the water besides the 
clay? Yes, upon its surface there are many little 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 1 7 

pieces of leaves and stems of plants. These are soft 
and crumble if we try to pick them up. 

We have found three things in the soil. There 
is first the sand, which feels hard and gritty when we 
rub it in our fingers. Then there is the clay in 
which we can feel no grit. When the clay dries it 
crumbles to a fine powder, and looks like the dust in 
the road. Last of all, there are the little pieces of 
plants. 

Some kinds of soil contain much sand and little 
clay. Others are formed mostly of clay. 

Would you not like to know how the soil is 
made? 

QUESTIONS. 

What is meant by poor soil and rich soil? 

What is it in the soil which makes it sticky when wet? 

Will plants grow in clean sand ? 

Do all plants like the same kind of soil? 

What do you think makes the soil dark? What is the color of 
the plant stems which you find in the soil ? 

What is dust ? 

Pour water on some sand and also on some clay. Into which does 
it sink faster ? 

What becomes of plants when they die? 

Is the soil in your garden dark colored or light ? 

What is sand used for? 



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A TREE PRYING ROCKS APART. 



HOW THE SOIL IS MADE. 



How is the soil made? Where does it come 
from? 

We can learn something about the soil if we 
watch the men who are grading a road through the 
hill. Some of the men are driving horses hitched to 
great shovels on wheels. The horses pull the shovels 
over the ground and scrape off the soft dirt. This top 
dirt we call the soil. It is dark in color and full of 
grass roots and pieces of leaves and stems of plants. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 1 9 

Below the dark soil the men find the ground 
harder. Some of them are using picks to loosen it. 
A little deeper the ground becomes so hard that they 
can no longer pick it. 

Then they bring long iron rods called drills, and 
make holes in this hard ground. They put powder 
into the holes and explode it. The ground is blown 
into pieces which can be shoveled up and drawn 
away. 

This hard ground is called rock. Soil is made 
from rock. We have already seen that where the 
men are working the soil forms only a thin layer on 
the top of the ground. As they dig deeper the soil 
soon disappears and rock takes its place. If you 
dig a hole in the ground anywhere you will at last 
come to rock. In some places the soil is very 
deep. 

Here is a piece of rock which the men have 
blasted out. How bright and clean it is! There are 
sharp corners upon it which may scratch your fingers. 
How strange it is that rock like this can change to 
soil ! 

We will take a piece of the rock and pound it 
to dust. Why cannot we call this pounded rock, soil? 
It does not look like the dark soil which the men 
found on the top of the ground. 

Let us plant some seeds in a pot of the dust 



20 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

which we made by pounding the piece of rock. We 
will also plant some in a pot of the dark soil. In 
this way we can learn how our pounded rock differs 
from the soil which Nature made. 

In a few days the seeds sprout, and for a time the 
tiny blades in one pot look just like those in the 
other. Then a change comes. The little plants in 
the pot of rock dust almost cease to grow. They 
lose their bright green color. The plants in the 
other pot keep on growing. This is because the 
dark soil is full of food all ready for the plant to use, 
while the rock dust has but little food ready for the 
little roots to take up. 

We have discovered now that the soil is some- 
thing more than rock dust. Nature makes the soil 
from the rock in a very different way. 

A long time ago there was no soil covering the 
rocks. Do you think we could have lived upon the 
earth then? 

For many years the sun shone upon the rocks* 
and every day they became quite warm. At night 
when the sun was gone they grew cold. The little 
grains of which the rocks are made became larger 
when they were warm and crowded each other. 
When it was cold they shrank away from each other. 
In this way little cracks were made. 

Rain fell upon the rocks and ran into the cracks 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



21 



At last the rocks began to soften and crumble into 
little pieces. In this way a layer of soil commenced. 
Little plants sent their roots into the soil as well as 
the tiny cracks. The soil was poor and did not give 
the plant much food, but after a long time things 




ROCKS WITH NO COVERING OF SOIL. 



were different. When the pieces of rock had crum- 
bled very fine and pieces of leaves and plant stems 
became mixed with it, and many little animals had 
made their homes in it, there was formed the dark 
rich soil. 

Our picture shows another way in which soil is 



22 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



formed. In it you can see the bank of a stream. 
Perhaps you have visited one just like it. 

The bank is made of pebbles and sand. These 
were washed here by the water a long time ago. At 
the top of the bank you can see a dark layer of soil. 




AT THE TOP OF THE BANK IS A DARK LAYER OF RICH SOIL. 

You can also see the roots of the plants reaching 
down into the soil. The dark layer at the top is rich 
in plant food. The sand and pebbles below can 
furnish very little food. 

There are many animals which help form the 
soil. The ground squirrels burrow in the earth and 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 23 

make it loose. There are also the earthworms who 
work the ground over and make it richer. 

In every pinch of soil there are still other little 
living things. They are so small that you cannot 
see them. Each one is doing what it can to change 
the little grains of rock into soil. 

Now we have seen how Nature makes the soil. 

QUESTIONS. 

Where have you seen solid rocks beneath the soil? 

Have you seen men dig a well? Was the ground soft on the 
top? 

Have you ever found a piece of crumbling rock ? Could you break 
it in your hands? 

Get a smooth pebble and try to break it with a hammer. Does 
it break easily? 

If you have been in the mountains, you can tell us something 
about the rocks you saw there. 

Find a bank where you can see the roots of plants reaching down 
into the soil. What do you find under the soil? 

How deep do roots of plants go into the ground? 

What do earth worms feed upon? 

Mention some of the animals that live in the ground. How do 
these animals help make the soil better? 

What makes rocks crumble? 

What does the farmer do to the soil before he plants his seed ? 




WHERE IT RAINS A GREAT DEAL. 



WHAT PLANTS NEED. 

There are three things which plants must have. 
These are soil, water, and sunshine. 

We have already learned what soil is and how it 
is made. When the little seed falls where there is 
not much soil it has a hard time to grow. If the 
rain waters it and the sun shines upon it the seed 
begins to swell and soon sends out a tiny shoot. 
This tries to push its way down into the ground, but 
if there is no soil the young plant dies in a short 
time. 

The soil is deep and rich in the valley. This is 
the reason that we find the largest trees there. The 
farmer who lives in the valley raises a larger crop of 
wheat than the one who lives upon the hill. 

Upon the hills the soil is often very thin. In 
some places the rocks may stick up through the soil. 
Plants do not love the rocks, for they cannot get food 
from them. 

When the summer comes the plants upon the 
hills where the soil is shallow dry up and turn 
yellow. Shallow soil cannot hold water very long. 

The plants in the valley can reach their roots deep. 

25 



26 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



There are no rocks to stop them and down they go 
until they get where the ground is moist. 




WHERE VERY LITTLE RAIN FALLS. 



Plants need water more than they do soil with 
food in it. If the soil is poor some of them will 
manage to grow. If there is no water they will all 
die. If you forget to water the plants in your 
window you will soon see by their wilted leaves how 
thirsty they are. Have you seen the plants in the 
field droop upon a hot summer day? This is 
because the sun and air are taking so much water 
from the ground that the plants soon begin to suffer. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 27 

A desert is a place where there is little or no 
water. In some deserts there are no plants to be 
seen. In others there are a few plants that have 
become used to living with only a very little water. 

If it should rain in the desert the barren 
stretches of sand and clay would soon be covered 
with plants. This shows us that plants can get 
along without rich soil, but they must have water. 
Some plants will grow in pure sand if they have 
plenty of water. 

There is another thing that most plants need. 
This is sunshine. Have you seen potatoes sprouting 
in the cellar where it is dark? The little stems are 
slender and pale. If there is a window near they 
reach out toward it. They try hard to get where 
there is sunshine. 

People need sunshine as well as the plants. 
Miners who work underground away from the sun are 
always pale. You never see them with rosy cheeks. 

Did you ever think how much you are like a 
little plant? If you have plenty to eat and lots of 
sunshine you will grow fast and become strong. 
The little plant that has plenty of light and deep, 
moist soil is strong and happy. 

Most plants do not grow during the whole 
year. In the spring and summer they do their work. 
In the winter they rest. From this we see that plants 



28 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

need something more than soil, water, and sunshine. 
They must also have warm weather in order to grow. 
Perhaps you live where it is warm in winter. 
Roses and oranges are blossoming out of doors. 
Do plants ever rest where it is warm all of the time? 
Watch some of them and you will soon find out. 

HOW THE ROSE CAME. 

A little brown seed in the garden,- 

Asleep under the white snow, 
A sunbeam that came in the springtime, 

Some raindrops that helped it to grow, 
A rose bush, and then a wee rosebud, 

With petals that softly unclose, 
A perfume that's sweeter than honey, 

And there in the sunshine — a rose. 

— Charlotte Lay Dewey 
QUESTIONS. 

Mention the things which plants need. 

Do you know why the soil is. deeper in the valley ? 

Does the water carry away any of the soil from the hills when it 
rains ? 

Of what use are the roots to plants ? 

What holds trees from falling when the wind blows ? 

If it should rain in the desert, would the country look different? 

Have you ever seen plants growing in water and without soil? 

Do all plants need sunshine? 

Have you seen any flowers that close in the night and open in 
the sunshine? 

What is it that gives the rosy cheek to the apple? 




SUMMER, IN THE SHADE OF THE OAKS. 



THE SEASONS. 

What is it that looks in at your window in the 
morning? What brings the light, and wakes up the 
little birds, and opens the flowers? 

It is the sun that makes the day bright. When 
the sun has gone the dark comes. Then we rest 
until another morning. The sun is the life of the 
world. It warms the air and makes everything 
grow. 

All days are not alike. Some are warmer 

39 



30 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

than others. In the summer the G ua climbs higher 
in the sky than in the winter. The higher the sun 
is the more heat we get from it. This is the reason 
that summer is hotter than winter. 

Drive a stick into the ground. Now watch the 
shadow which the sun makes it throw upon the 
ground. The shadow will be long in the morning 
and evening. When the shadow is shortest the sun 
has reached its highest point in the sky. It is then 
noon. 

At noon in the summer the sun is almost over- 
head. The sun feels hot and the shadow of the stick 
is very short. The sun is not as high at noon in 
the winter. The days are not so warm and the 
shadow is much longer. 

If you watch the shadow of the stick for a 
number of days you can tell whether summer or 
winter is coming. If the shadow is a little shorter 
at noon each day the sun is getting higher in the 
sky. That means that summer is coming. 

When the shadow is very short at noon you 
may know that it is summer. The days are long 
and the air becomes very warm. 

It is so warm that the cattle go into the shade. 
The birds stop singing. Even the boys and girls 
forget to play. 

After a time it is not so warm. The sun does 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



31 



not climb so high in the sky. The farmer gathers 
in the corn. The apples are picked and put in the 
cellar. This is the beginning of fall. 

Soon Jack Frost comes at night and touches 




WINTER. 



the leaves. We see them dropping from the trees 
all through the day. Now the air is very pleasant. 
The shadow of our stick continues to grow 
longer day by day. Now it is winter. The trees 
are bare and Nature seems to have gone to sleep. 
The farther north we go the colder we find the 



32 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

weather. There is snow and ice, and people have to 
build warm fires to keep from freezing. The sun 
comes up late in the morning and looks down upon 
the earth for only a little time each day. 



A TROPICAL SCENE. 



Toward the south it does not get so cold. The 
sun there does not sink so low in the sky and his 
heat keeps Jack Frost away. In the south the win- 
ter is the pleasantest part of the year. The oranges 
are ripe and flowers are all around. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. $$ 

After winter comes spring. The sun again 
climbs higher in the sky. The days become warmer 
The animals come out of their holes. The trees and 
plants put out their leaves and fragrant blossoms. 
The birds return and fill the air with their music. 

There are four seasons in each year, winter, 
spring, summer and fall. The time from one winter 
to another is called a year. 

We think that each season as it comes is the 
nicest. We are glad that the days are not all alike 

QUESTIONS. 

Tell all the signs of spring that you know. 

How do you know when it is fall? 

What time of the year are the nights the longest ? 

Why does it become cold when the sun goes down? 

Does the sun always rise in the same place? 

Mention some trees that do not drop their leaves in the fa!L 

Mention some of the nuts that are ripe in the fall. 

When does the snow fall? 

What time of the year are the days the longest ? 

What season is the earth the prettiest? 

In which direction does the sun rise? 




FALL. 



HOW THE SEASONS AFFECT PLANTS 
AND ANIMALS 



We have found that plants need food, water, 
and sunshine. Plants get their food from the soil. 

Animals need food and water, and the most of 
them love sunlight, but there are some that hide 

34 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 35 

away from it. Many of the animals get their food 
from plants, but some feed upon other animals that 
they can kill. 

Everything that lives has its time to rest and 
sleep. When do you suppose that time is? Can it 
be in the winter or in the summer, or is it at night? 
If you said any one of these, you would be partly 
right. 

Most plants and some of the animals sleep a 
part of each year. The time which they take to 
sleep depends upon the climate of the place in which 
they live. The most of the animals sleep a part of 
each day or night. Plants do not grow as fast at 
night as they do in the daylight. 

In cold countries plants sleep in the winter. 
We know they are going to sleep when their leaves 
begin to fall. When the cold winter comes they 
stand so bare that they look as though they were 
dead. 

When the trees begin to feel the warmer days 
of spring the sap starts again from their roots. It 
goes up the trunk of the tree and into each tiny 
branch. The waiting buds soon commence to swell. 
Almost before we know it the trees are again dressed 
in green. 

The children all know that spring has come 
when they can find the pussy willows. The willow 



36 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

is one of the first trees to wake up and open its little 
blossoms. 

Many plants do not live through the winter. 
Each spring a new plant grows from the little seed. 
Very soon we see it blossom. When it is fall and 
the cooler weather drives away the summer, the seeds 
are ripe and the first frosts kill the mother plant. 

In warm countries plants sleep during the dry 
season. If summer is the dry season, then they 
grow in the winter. Such a country is green and 
beautiful in the winter. In summer the ground 
becomes dry and the whole world seems dead. 

There are many animals that crawl into their 
holes and go to sleep when fall comes. They do not 
move until spring wakes them. The first warm 
day brings them out of their winter home. The 
earth, the water and the air are full of life, where a 
little time before everything seemed dead. 

Every plant and every animal is suited to the 
place in which you find it living. If you carry an 
animal or plant away from its home you must give 
it a new home much like the old one. If you do not 
it will die. The animals in the cold north cannot 
stand the heat of the south. A plant which is used 
to having a great deal of water will not live where 
there is little water, 

The birds do not stay in one place through the 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 37 

year. When winter comes they go toward the south. 
In the spring they return to their northen homes 
where they make their nests and raise the young 
birds. 

People do not move back and forth as the 
seasons change. They put on warmer clothing for 
the winter and store up food to eat. Some animals 
do the same. Their hair grows longer and thicker 
and thus they are protected from the cold. 

QUESTIONS. 

Mention some trees that drop their leaves in the fall. 

What trees keep their leaves through the whole year. 

Mention some plants that die in the fall. 

Do you know any plants that never rest ? 

What makes the plant begin to grow in the spring ? 

What is the sap? Where do the roots get it? 

Can the tree grow when the ground is dry? 

What effect does frost have upon the garden plants? 

Do you know any animals that store up food for the winter? 

What does the bear do when winter comes ? 

Did you ever find a snake or lizard in its winter home? How 
did it act when you disturbed it? 

Find a lizard some cold morning and place it in the sun, and see 
what it will do. 

What time of the year do you see the wild ducks and geese ? 

What becomes of the birds in the winter? 




NIAGARA FALLS IN WINTER. 



THREE FORMS OF WATER. 

We have seen that water is necessary to the life 
of plants and animals. Now let us try to find out 
something about the properties of water. 

There are three different forms which water 
takes. Each is very unlike the others. They are 
so unlike that if we had not seen one change into 
another we should hardly believe that they were 
different forms of the same thing. 

There is first the common form. You all know 
this one, it is the water which we drink. If we go 
far enough in any direction we come to water. It 
forms all the streams and lakes as well as the great 
oceans. There is more water than anything else 
upon the surface of our earth. 

Water is a liquid. By liquid we mean some- 
thing that can be poured. We take a cup of water 
and pour it into a basin. It takes the shape of the 
hollow in the dish that holds it. A solid does not 
act in this way. It keeps its shape. 

Water is not the only liquid. There are many 
others. We have many substances which form 
solids at the ordinary temperature, but if they are 

39 



40 • HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

placed in a very hot place they become liquid. The 
heavy mineral we call lead is a solid. It is useful 
in making water pipes and shot. If we heat lead it 
melts easily and becomes a liquid. It can then be 
poured like water. 

There is another form of water called steam or 
vapor. When water is heated it changes to steam. 
The particles of water forming the steam are so 
small that if you could look into an engine boiler 
you could not see them. When the steam comes 
out of the engine into the cool air the little particles 
run together and form others large enough so that 
they can be seen. Now we have a dense white cloud 
about the engine. 

When water is changed to steam it takes up 
very much more room than it did before. Each of 
the tiny particles of water in the steam is very warm. 
It wants lots of room. Each one pushes against his 
neighbors as hard as he can. This is why the lid of 
the tea-kettle jumps up and down. 

When steam is shut up tight we can make it 
work for us. The little particles push with such 
strength that they can make the wheels of a heavy 
engine turn around, and draw a long line of loaded 
cars. 

There are tiny water particles all about us in 
the air. They are invisible except when they turn 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 4 1 

into clouds or fog. At night they form the dew 
which makes the grass so wet. 

The third form of water is ice. When water 
becomes very cold it turns to a solid substance 
which we call ice. We all know how clear and 
smooth ice is. We cool our water with it upon hot 
summer days, and in winter we skate over its slip- 
pery surface. The children of warm climates do not 
know the pleasure of skating. Where do you 
suppose the ice comes from that is used where it is 
never cold enough to freeze water? 

We call ice frozen water. When the air 
becomes warm the ice begins to melt. In a little 
time a cake of solid ice will change to water. 

When water freezes it wants a little more room 
than it did before. This is why your pitcher is 
broken when the water in it freezes. 

Hailstones are frozen raindrops. The drops of 
water falling through the air sometimes become so 
cold that they turn to ice. 

Can you tell what the pretty snowflakes are 
made of? They are frozen clouds. They fall very 
gently and make everything pure and white. Each 
flake has six sides or points like a star. 

If you live in the South and have never seen 
the snowflakes get your papa to take you to the 
mountains when the winter storms come. 



4 2 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



QUESTIONS. 

Mention some other liquids besides water. 

How is a solid different from a liquid? 

What makes water boil? 

What are the little bubbles in boiling water formed of? 

How do clouds differ from steam? 

Mention some solids that can be melted. 

Can you think of any other vapor besides steam? 

Burn a sulphur match and you get a smell of sulphur. Can 
you see the sulphur particles in the air? • 

In warm countries water does not freeze. Where do they get 
the ice which is used? 

Is ice lighter or heavier than water? 

What is the difference between snow and hail? 

Does it ever snow where you live? Why does it snow upon 
the mountains more often than in the valleys? 




SNOW CRYSTALS- 




THE OCEAN. 



WHERE THE WATER COMES FROM. 



Day and night the brook ripples over the 
pebbles. It never gets tired and never stops. Did 
you ever wonder where the water of the brook comes 
from, and where it is going? 

Let us follow up the brook and see where 
it starts. Back into the hills we must go. We 
leave the meadows and the pretty valley. Up we 
climb until the slopes become steep and the brook 
dashes from rock to rock. Still smaller brooks 
join here and there, but we follow up the main 

43 



44 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

one until at last we find where the stream 
starts. Under a mossy bank there is a clear 
spring. The water comes bubbling up out of the 
ground and runs singing away down through the 
hills. 

If you want to know where the water of the 
spring comes from you must ask the raindrops. If 
we can find the home of the raindrops we shall find 
where all the water comes from. 

We are sure that the raindrops are the source 
of the spring, for in the desert, where it does not rain, 
there are no springs. 

It does not rain when the sky is clear. The 
drops of water come from the clouds which come 
up and hide the blue sky. Where do the clouds 
come from? We will follow them back to where 
they start. We pass over valleys and hills, and at 
last find ourselves far out over the ocean. 

The ocean is the home of the clouds. The 
ocean stretches farther than we can see. It covers 
three fourths of the surface of our earth. From 
over it all the little water particles are rising day by 
day. When they get up where it is colder we can 
see them. Now we call them clouds. 

How do we know that water particles are rising 
from the water into the air. We set a basin of water 
out doors and after a few days the water has disap- 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 45 

peared. It could get away only by going off in the 
air. 

We cannot see the water particles leave the 
basin, but if we watch a pond of water when the air 
becomes cool at night we shall learn something 
about it. 

Sometimes you will see a thin cloud or mist 
rising from the water. You can see the mist only 
when the water is warm and the air is cool. You 
remember that steam from the engine boiler becomes 
visible when it comes out into the air because the 
air is so much cooler. 

The mist rising and hanging over the pond is 
made of water particles. On cold mornings you can 
see them in your breath. How often you have 
puffed your breath out and played that you were a 
steam engine. Your breath contains these water 
particles all of the time, but they can be seen only 
when the air is cool. 

The most of the water particles in the clouds 
start upon their journey from the ocean; for the 
ocean, you know, contains the larger part of the 
water upon our earth. The winds blow across the 
ocean and over the land. They carry the water 
particles, or vapor, with them. When they reach a 
region of colder air they form great masses of clouds. 
At last the little particles of water unite to form 



46 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

drops. These are so heavy that they cannot remain 
in the air any longer and so fall to the ground. 

Some of the water sinks into the ground. This 
makes the cool springs. The rest runs away on the 
top of the ground. It becomes dirty and forms the 
muddy rills which we see during a rain storm. 

All over the world streams of water are hurrying 
to the ocean. If the water never came back the 
ocean would by and by become dry, just as our basin 
did. 

If there were no clouds the water would soon 
all gather in the ocean. The dry land wouid become 
a desert and nothing could live upon it. 

So the water is always traveling from the earth 
to the sky and back again. The same particles 
never go in the same place twice. They are always 
seeing new places and meeting new people. 

The water in the ocean is useful to us. It bears 
the ships from one part of the earth to another. In 
the sky it forms the clouds which furnish the refresh- 
ing rain. As cool springs, it satisfies our thirst. At 
last, as little brooks, it runs away to join the river, 
and the river bears it again to the ocean. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 47 



THE RAIN. 

When the rain is over, 

When the clouds have pass'd, 
And the golden sunshine 

Beams again at last; 
All the earth is fairer, 

Every freshened flower 
Lifts its head to answer: 

"Thank you, little shower." 

— Constance M . Lowe. 



QUESTIONS. 

What time of the year does it rain the most ? 

From what direction does the rain come? 

When are the brooks the lowest? 

Would the brooks dry up if no more rain fell? 

Is spring water clear or muddy ? 

Why do many flowers grow about springs ? 

Where do the rivers empty their water ? 

Why does not the ocean fill up and overflow its banks ? 

Of what use are rivers? 

Where does water run the faster, up in the hills or down in the 
valley ? 

How do people get water where there are no springs or running 
streams ? 




A STORM ON THE COAST. 



Millet. 



THE WIND. 



What is the wind? We can feel the wind blow- 
ing upon our faces. We can see what the wind 
does, but we cannot see the wind itself. 

Sometimes the wind blows against us so 
strongly we can hardly stand up. The wind carries 
our hats down the street. It tips over houses and 
great trees. 

All about us there is something which we 
can not see. We call this the air. The air keeps 
us alive. At every breath our lungs are filled 
with it. 

When the air moves we feel it pushing against 
us. Wind is then only the air in motion. The air 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 49 

surrounds the whole earth. It is never quiet, but 
is always doing work. It makes the windmills go 
around, and sends the ships across the sea. 

On a summer day the wind cools our cheeks 
and rustles gently in the trees. In the winter it is 
fierce and strong. When it blows very hard we say 
there is a storm. Then the air rushes swiftly along 
and sometimes does a great deal of harm. 

Now what is it that makes the wind blow? 
You have all sat by the fireplace and watched the 
flames roar up the chimney. The fire makes the air 
near it very hot. Hot air is lighter than cold air, 
and is pushed upward by the cold air which rushes 
in and takes its place. As soon as the cold air be- 
comes warm, it, in turn, rises, and this makes a wind 
up the chimney. We say the fire draws well when 
the air moves fast. You cannot see the air moving, 
but hold a little paper windmill in front of the fire- 
place and it will turn around as it does in the wind 
out of doors. 

Winds blow over the earth for the same reason 
that air draws up the chimney. 

The sun shines upon the earth and makes it 
hotter in some places than in others. Where the air 
becomes hotter it rises faster, and the cool air rushes 
along to the place where the hot air was. When 
this happens we feel the wind blowing. 



$0 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

The wind may blow from any direction. The 
north wind is usually cold. It makes us shiver and 
put on our coats. 

The south wind is warm. It brings the rain 
and the spring flowers. The south wind wakens all 
Nature from its winter sleep. 

When clouds cover the sky and the south 
wind blows, people say it will rain. 

After the rain the wind changes and blows 
from the north. It soon chases all the clouds away. 
Now we have fair weather. 



QUESTIONS. 

We cannot see the air. How do we know that there is such a 
thing ? 

What time of the year is there the most wind ? 

What time of the day does the wind blow the least ? 

Mention some kinds of work done by the wind. 

If the air is hotter over the land, will the air blow toward the ocean 
or from the ocean ? 

Where do people go in summer to get cool breezes ? 

What damage is sometimes done by storms ? 

Mention the different winds which blow where you live. 

What is it that makes waves upon the water ? 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



5* 




THE WIND. 

I saw you toss the kites on high 
And blow the birds about the sky; 
And all around I heard you pass, 
Like ladies' skirts across the grass — 
O wind, a-blowing all day long, 
O wind, that sings so loud a song 

I saw the different things you did, 
But always you yourself you hid, 
I felt you push, I heard you call, 
I could not see yourself at all — 
O wind, a-blowing all day long, 
O wind, that sings so loud a song! 

O you that are so strong and cold; 

O blower, are you young or old? 

Are you a beast of field and tree, 

Or just a stronger child than me? 
O wind, a-blowing all day long, 
O wind, that sings so loud a song ! 

- — Stevenson 








STORM CLOUDS WITH THUNDER HEADS ABOVE. 



THE CLOUDS. 



The dark clouds are coming up. They are 
sweeping over the blue sky and will soon hide it. 
Why do you suppose they rush along so swiftly? 
It is because the wind is chasing them. It is blow- 
ing behind them and they cannot stop. 

There are many kinds of clouds. Can you tell 
us about some of them? I am sure you know the 
storm clouds. They look dark and angry. Wher- 
ever they go they strew raindrops over the earth. 
The farmer welcomes them, for the thirsty land 



52 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 53 

needs water. They will make the meadows green 
again. 

The rain may pour down from the clouds for 
many hours. Sometimes they give us so much 
water that we are afraid it will flood the earth. But 
at last the clouds seem to become tired. They melt 
away and let the bright sunshine down on us again. 

How thankful all Nature seems for the refresh- 
ing rain! The birds sing again, and everything is 
bright and fresh. 

Who does not love ta watch the thunder clouds 
upon a summer day? After the sun has risen high 
in the sky and the air becomes warm, little clouds 
appear here and there in the blue sky. They act as 
if they were lost, and we wonder what they can be 
doing. They keep growing larger and larger, and at 
last pile up in great rounded masses. The sky is, 
at times, almost filled with these towers of white. 

As we look at these clouds we might imagine 
that they are hills and mountains far away. Or 
fancy we can see in their changing shapes the forms 
of very strange and wonderful animals. 

At night we love to watch the flashes of light 
that come from the thunder heads. The lightning 
darts here and there. Sometimes we hear the 
thunder. It sounds like a distant wagon rolling 
over the stones. 



54 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

The fleecy clouds are very different from the 
storm clouds and thunder clouds. They do not give 
us rain. They seem to have nothing to do. There 
they float so daintily, as if only for us to look at 
them. They seem like patches of cotton dropped 
across the sky. The sun plays hide and seek among 
them. Now the sun shines hot upon us, now the 
little clouds hide it. 

There is another kind of cloud. I wonder if 
you have seen it. Clouds of this kind float high in 
the sky, far above all the other clouds. They look 
like dainty wisps of soft hair. They are called cirrus 
clouds. 

The clouds which you have seen hanging 
around the top of a mountain form there because 
the air is cold. We have learned already that cold 
changes the little water particles floating in the air 
into such form that we can see them. 

When clouds come down to the ground we 
call them fog. We do not love the fog. It shuts 
us in so that we can hardly see which way to go. 
Watch the fog closely and you will see the little 
water particles of which it is made. These hang 
themselves upon our clothes and we soon feel 
damp. 

Have you ever stood upon a hill far above the 
fog? As you look down upon the fog it seems like 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



55 



a great ocean of water. The hills rise above the fog 
like islands. 




FOG. 



Fog is quite useful in countries where it does 
not rain much. It protects the ground and plants 
from the sun so that they do not dry up so quickly. 



56 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 




THE RAINDROPS. 



Down on the wide blue ocean, 

The lakes, and the little streams, 
So loving, so warm, and tender, 

The sun sent his golden beams, 
That the ever changeful water 

Grew warm and began to be proud, 
And longed to fly away and away, 

To be a soft white cloud. 
So some of the drops grew very small, 

As fine as a fairy's hair, 
As light as a fairy's foot-fall, 

Which is lighter than the air. 
Then up, up, up they hurried 

To fly was such a delight ; 
They cast not one look backward 

Till they were out of sight; 
They only thought of the playtime, 

And the rollicking fun of it all; 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 57 

And forgot that true is the saying, 

" Pride goeth before a fall." 
And when they had gone so very far, 

That the earth was out of sight, 
They met a current of ice-cold air, 

And it gave them such a fright, 
That they ran together in little drops, 

And clung to each other tight ; 
So they tumbled down together, 

And we had rain that night. 

— M. K. F. 



QUESTIONS. 

From what direction do the rain clouds come? 

What wind brings fair weather? 

What time of the day are there the most thunder clouds? 

What makes the thunder? 

What is dew ? Frost ? 

When does the dew fall? 

If you fill a glass with cold water upon a warm day, what appears 
upon the outside of the glass? 

When do you have the most fog, in the morning or middle of the 
day? 

What makes the fog disappear? 

What makes the clouds which float about the sides of the mountains ? 

Where does the more rain fall, upon mountains or in valleys, and 
why? 

Tell something about the clouds when you think it will rain. 




GEYSER "OLD FAITHFUL," YELLOWSTONE PARK 

SPRINGS. 

Hour after hour the rain beats against the 
window. Where can so much water go to? Some 
of it runs down the street in muddy torrents. Some 
of it soaks into the ground. You have seen a 
sponge absorb water. The ground takes up water 
in much the same way. 

After the rain stops we find little ponds in all 
the hollows. In a few days the water is gone. 

58 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 59 

What do you suppose has become of it? You have 
already learned that water particles are rising from 
the ocean all of the time. They are rising also from 
every pond of water. The basin of water left upon 
the door step will become dry if it stands a few days. 

All of the water of the pond does not change to 
vapor in this way and disappear in the air. A part 
slowly sinks down through the ground. Down, down 
the water goes into the soft soil. Finally it reaches 
the rock which we have learned is below the soil. 
Does the water stop then? No; for there are little 
cracks in the rock. The water slowly creeps into 
these cracks and so keeps on its journey into the earth. 

The cracks are small and the water goes 
slowly. Finally some of the little cracks unite 
and form larger ones. In the larger cracks the 
water can run faster and now we have a bubbling 
little stream. It is far, far below the ground on 
which we walk. 

Will the water ever come out into the sunshine 
again? Let us see. The land, you know, is not 
smooth. There are hills and valleys and canons. 
As the little streams flow along underground some 
of them may come to one of these canons or ravines. 
If a canon lies in the path of a little stream it will all 
at once slip out through the rocks into the bright 
sunlight. 



60 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

In such a place we have a spring. The water 
which was muddy once is now clear. The dirt was 
lost in the long journey under ground. We think 
there is no other water as good as spring water. 

The ferns and grasses love the water. They 
grow up and shade the spring from the hot sun. 
It is pleasant to think that they do this through 
gratitude for the pure water given them. 

Many of the underground streams never find a 
canon in their path. They go deeper and deeper 
into the earth. At last they come where the rocks 
are very warm. The farther they go the hotter the 
rocks become. At last they are hot enough to turn 
a part of the water into steam. 

The steam will not let the water behind it go 
any farther. It pushes the water back and makes it 
flow toward the top of the ground again. When 
this water comes out upon the top of the ground 
it forms a hot or boiling spring. You can cook eggs 
or potatoes in such a spring. The water of hot 
springs is often used as a medicine. This is the 
story of the water that was lost in the ground. 

When people dig wells they try to find one of 
these underground streams. They often do find a 
tiny stream. Sometimes they find one so large that 
they have to climb out of the well very quickly. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



61 




QUESTIONS. 



Have you ever seen a spring ? Describe its appearance. 

Which does water sink through quicker, sand or clay? 

What kind of soil is it where ponds of water stand a long time? 

What makes the water of some springs so cold? 

What do we mean by saying spring water is hard ? What do we 
find in the bottom of the tea-kettle after spring water has been boiled 
in it a long time ? 

What is a mineral spring? 

Tell why some springs have warm or hot water. 

Do springs ever dry up in the summer ? 

Describe a well. 

How is the water gotten out of a well ? 

How does a well differ from a spring ? 

What makes you think the earth is hot inside? 

Of what use are hot springs ? 




THE CRUMBLING CLIFF 



EVERYTHING HAS WEIGHT. 

We have all seen a magnet. We have watched 
it pick up little pieces of iron and hold them tightly. 

The great earth upon which we live acts like a 
magnet. It pulls everything toward itself. The 
pull or attraction of the earth is what makes things 
have weight. 

A piece of iron is heavy. You can hardly lift it 
because the earth pulls it strongly. A piece of wood 
the same size as the iron is light. You can lift it 
easily because the earth does not pull it so strongly. 

If you throw a ball into the air it falls quickly 
to the ground. A feather will fall, but not so quickly, 
because the air holds it up. 

You tumble out of a tree and are hurt. It is 
the earth pulling you that makes you strike the 
ground so hard. The higher you are in the tree 
the more the fall will hurt. 

How easy it is to run down hill. It is hard 
work to climb back up the hill. The earth is pulling 
you down the hill. If you stumble it may cause you 
to fall. 

If it were not for the pull of the earth we could 

63 



64 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

not go coasting. It you threw a ball in the air it 
would not come back to you. 

The pull of the earth is helping to tear down 
the mountains. Did you ever think of that? At the 
foot of the cliffs there are great fragments of rocks 
which have fallen from above. If you climb the 
cliff you will find many pieces of rock ready to fall. 
Push one with your foot. Down it goes tumbling 
and rolling to the bottom. 

It is the pull of the earth that makes water run 
down hill. Look out of the window when it rains. 
The little streams of water are hurrying past. The 
earth is pulling them and they are trying to find the 
lowest place. Perhaps they will have to run many 
miles before they can rest. 

Here is a hollow in the ground. Some of 
the water has found it and formed a little pond. 
Take a spade and dig a ditch through the rim of 
dirt which holds the water. Away it goes through 
the ditch. The earth is pulling it and it cannot 
stay. 

The earth pulls the balloon as it does everything 
else, but the balloon rises because it is lighter than 
the air. Ducks can swim upon the water because 
they are lighter than the water. 

A stick floats upon the water because it is light, 
but a piece of lead drops to the bottom. It is 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 65 

heavier than the water and the earth pulls it down 
to the bottom. 



QUESTIONS. 

What would happen if the earth stopped pulling things toward 
itself ? 

What makes things feel heavy? 
What is the heaviest thing you know ? 
Which falls quicker, a feather or a ball ? Why ? 
Why will a wagon tip over on a side hill ? 
What is another name for the pull of the earth ? 
Why is it dangerous to climb along rocky cliffs ? 
Does water run on level land ? 
How can you tell which way the road slopes ? 
In what part of their course do streams run the swiftest ? 
Why does water stay in a pond? 
• Does the earth pull children or grown people the most ? 
How much does the earth pull you? 




THE WORK OF RAINDROPS. 



WATER WORKS FOR US. 



We train horses to draw our wagons. We put 
up windmills. The wind makes them go round and 
pump water for the cattle to drink. 

The sailor places sails upon his vessel and the 
wind blows him merrily along. The engineer places 
water in a boiler and heats it until it changes to 

66 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 67 

steam. The steam makes the engine move and 
work for us. 

Can you think of any other thing which we 
harness and cause to work for us? 

Long ago people did not know that steam could 
be made to do work. Then they used water to make 
their mills go and grind the grain. 

Let us look around and see the work which water 
does. When a raindrop strikes your face it hits a 
tiny blow. The raindrops which run from the roof 
dig a little ditch by the side of the house. When 
thousands of little raindrops meet and travel together 
they often do a great deal of work. Sometimes we 
wish that they did not do so much work. 

As the raindrops rush along they dig a deep 
ditch in the soil. They do this by carrying off the 
dirt, grain by grain. They become very muddy, but 
they do not seem to care. 

Have you ever seen great holes washed in the 
road by the torrent of raindrops? People cannot 
travel for a time. It may take many men several 
days to fill up the hole made by the torrent. 

If you live by a river or mountain brook you 
have seen the water roll pebbles along. The river 
sometimes washes away people's houses. It has 
destroyed whole farms. 

The waves of the ocean also do work. They 



68 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



never become weary. They are tearing the rocks 
down and grinding them to pieces. They make the 
sand which you delight to play in. 




A WRECK ON THE COAST OF MAINE. 



Sometimes the waves throw great ships against 
the rocks. They seem to be happy in breaking 
things in pieces and doing all the harm they can. 

How do you suppose men harness the water 
and make it work? It is a pleasant trip to the old 
mill. There we can learn more about the work of 
water, and how Avater is harnessed. 

The mill stands by a little creek. Above the 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



6 9 



mill you will see a pond of water held by a dam. 
The dam is made by piling logs or rocks across the 
bed of the stream. The dam holds the water back 
so that it cannot run along as it used to do. 




A WATER WHEEL. 



Upon one side of the mill-pond the miller digs 
a ditch. At the lower end of the ditch he places a 
large wooden- wheel. This is called a water wheel. 
When the dam is full of water the miller turns the 
water into the ditch. The water runs through the 



70 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

ditch and onto the wheel. The weight of the water 
makes the wheel turn around. The wheel makes 
the mill go to grind the grain or do any other kind 
of work. The mill may weave cloth. It may make 
electricity to give us light. 

Mills are sometimes placed where there is a 
water-fall. Then it is not necessary to make a dam. 

QUESTIONS. 

Mention some of the things which work for us. 

Mention some of the kinds of work which you have seen water 
do. 

What does the river do with the dirt which it washes from its 
banks ? 

What kinds of work does the ocean wave do ? 

Describe a stream near your home after a hard rain. 

Tell how water makes the water wheel turn around. 

How are dams made to hold the water? 

What harmful kinds of work does water do ? 

What makes the water come out of the hydrant with such force ? 

In what kind of a country will water do the most work, a hilly or 
level one? 

Would there be any waterfalls if there were no hills ? 




A PLAIN 



THE SURFACE OF THE LAND. 



Do you live where the land is smooth almost 
as far as you can see? Your home, then, is upon a 
plain. 

The plain seems as level as a floor. But is this 
really so? If the plain were perfectly level the rain 
which falls upon it would not run off. The land 
might then be flooded. 

Can the river tell us anything about the slope 
of the land? Let us see. Stand upon the bank for 



71 



72 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

a time and watch the water. Does it stand still like 
the water in the pond or does it move? Watch that 
little stick upon the water and you soon can tell. 
See, the stick is moving. It comes nearer. It floats 
in front of you, and soon it is out of sight. 

This shows us that the water in the river is 
moving. It is flowing across the plain on which 
you live. The plain must slope a little. The slope 
is in the direction in which the river flows. 

Is your home in a valley? Then you live on 
the lowland between hills or mountains. The valley 
is long and narrow like a great trough. A river 
flows into the valley at one end and out at the other 
end. You can easily see that the valley slopes in 
the direction in which the river is flowing. The 
steeper slopes are upon the sides of the valley where 
the little brooks trickle down to the river. 

Your home may be far above the valley and in 
the mountains. Then there must be rough rocks 
and steep slopes all around your home. There is 
just enough smooth land upon which to make a 
little garden. Here you have no trouble in telling 
which way the land slopes. The land is so steep 
that if you are not careful you will fall and get 
hurt. 

The water of the mountain brook does not flow 
quietly like the river in the plain. It tumbles noisily 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



73 



over the rocks. It will at last join the river by the 
easiest path it can find. 

Wherever we go we shall find the land sloping 
in some direction. The broad, gentle slopes we may 




A VALLEY. 



call plains; the open hollows between the hills or 
mountains are valleys; while the deep gashes which 
the rivers cut in the mountains are canons. 

If we follow the river to its head we shall see 



74 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



these three different land surfaces. In its lower 
course the river winds here and there over a broad 
plain. It seems as if it hardly knew which way it 
wanted to go. 




A CANON. 



After passing the plain we find hills beginning 
to rise on either side of the river. We pass up the 
valley which the river follows between the hills. 
The land along the river is rich and we see many 
farms. 

After a time the valley narrows and the river 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 75 

flows more swiftly. At last we come to a place 
where the hills come close to the river. There is no 
land between the rocky slopes and the river. The 
river rushes along between steep cliffs which almost 
shut out the sun. Now we are in a canon. We 
follow the canon far back into the mountains until it 
splits up into many little ravines. Each of these 
has been formed by the waters of many springs. 

QUESTIONS. 

Describe the country about your home. Is it a plain, a valley 
or a mountain on which you live? 

Where do you find swampy places? 

Have you seen the river flood the lowland along its banks? 

What makes the flood? Does it do any harm? 

How do you think the valleys were made? 

Do you think that water had anything to do with making the 
valleys? Why? 

How does a valley differ from a plain? 

Have you ever been in a canon or ravine? If so, describe it. 

What is the difference between a hill and a mountain? 

"Where do the streams run quietly, in the valley or high in the 
mountains? 

Where do the rough rocks stick up and form cliffs for water- 
falls? 

Is there much level land in the mountains? 

Where are there the most farms, in the valley or in the mountains? 

Where does the water of the river go to? 




THE OCEAN. 



Where is all the water of the river hurrying? 
It tumbles over the cliffs. It dashes past the 
rocks. 

The source of the river is in the mountains. It 
is formed by the little rills that are forever fed by 
the springs. The rills unite as do the branches upon 
a tree. At last they make the mighty river. 

The river soon leaves the mountains. It flows 
slower, for its bed is not so steep. Now it rests in 
quiet pools shaded by willows. Now it ripples in 
soft music over its sandy bed. 

Finally the river reaches a broad plain through 
which it slowly winds. It does not want to go 
farther. It seems to know that a little beyond the 

76 



HOME GEOGRAPHY JJ 

great ocean waits for it. The river will soon be lost 
in the ocean. Its work will be done. 

Rivers are flowing into the ocean from all the 
land upon our earth. Would you not think that by 
and by the ocean would fill up and run over its 
bank? Stop and think a moment. Have we not 
learned that water particles are leaving the ocean 
every moment and forming clouds? The water is 
being lost from the ocean as fast as it comes in. 
This is the reason it always remains the same. The 
water which the clouds carry away at last comes 
back in the rivers. 

You can now tell the story of the raindrops. It 
is a long story from the time they leave the ocean 
until they get back again. 

The ocean contains something which we put in 
our food. If you have tasted ocean water you know 
what this is. Place a pinch of salt in a cup of 
water. The salt dissolves in the water. It makes 
the water taste much like that from the ocean. 

Let the cup of water stand in a warm place for 
a few days. The water will go off as vapor. The 
little water particles will spread through the air, but 
you cannot see them. Is there anything left in the 
cup after the water has gone? Yes, there in the 
bottom is the salt which we dissolved in the water. 

The little water particles when they turn to 



78 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



vapor can not carry away the salt. This is why the 
clouds do not contain salt water Would it not 
seem strange if the raindrops were salty? We 
would think the clouds were shedding tears. 




About three-fourths of the earth upon which we 
live is covered by the ocean. If there were a little 
more water the oceans would cover nearly all the 
land. The fertile plains would be beneath the water. 
There would be left only the mountains rising above 
it. 

The islands in the ocean are the tops of moun- 
tains. If there were less water in the ocean many 
of the islands wouid be connected with the con- 
tinents. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 79 

Who can tell why the ocean is where it is? 
Water, as we have learned, runs into the lowest place 
that it can find. We have also learned that the sur- 
face of the earth is uneven. There are hills and 
valleys and plains. 

When the water was formed it ran into the 
lowest hollows upon the earth, and in this way the 
oceans were made. 



QUESTIONS. 

Have you ever seen a river? 

Tell us where it comes from and where it is going. 

Why does not the ocean fill up and overflow its banks ? 

Tell the story of the raindrops. 

When does the ocean lose the most water, on a cold day or on 
a warm day? 

How can you show that water is passing into the air all the time ? 

Of what use is the ocean to us? 

Is ocean water good to drink ? 

Where does our salt come from ? Can you tell how it is made ? 

If you put some salt in a cup of water, how can you get the salt 
again ? 

Is your home upon an island or a continent ? 

If you have ever seen an island, tell what it is. 

If there was much more water on the earth what would happen ? 

How is the ocean different from a lake or pond ? 



THE WORK OF THE OCEAN. 

Did you ever think how much work the ocean 
is doing? If you have ever visited the ocean you 
know that it is never quiet. The waves are always 
beating against the shore and sometimes it seems 
as if they would wash the solid land away. 

The ocean is doing different kinds of work. It 
is like a great animal that men have harnessed. 
When it is in a pleasant mood it carries the ships 
safely upon long voyages. When it is angry it often 
hurls the ships against the hard rocks and breaks 
them in pieces. 

In many places the waves of the ocean are 
slowly tearing down the land. In other places they 
are building up the land. 

The picture on the next page shows a rough 

and rocky part of the coast. The waves whiten the 

ocean with foam as they dash against the cliffs. 

Here we can easily see that they are doing work. 

With every storm the waves tear away a little of 

the land. They are digging holes and caves. We 

can see them in the picture. 

Where the rock is soft the waves work faster 
89 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



8l 



and soon make a little bay. The hard rocks wear 
away slowly and after a time they form points of 
land sticking out into the water. Sometimes the 




THE WAVES ARE SLOWLY TEARING DOWN THE LAND. 



waves wash around these points of land and make 
islands of them. Many of the little islands along 
the coast have been made in this way. 

How do the waves work? Have they any 
tools? Let us see. If we walk along the base of 
the cliffs at low tide we find the shore strewn with 



$2 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

rounded pebbles. As each wave breaks and rolls 
back into the ocean we hear the pebbles grinding 
upon each other. 

When the tide comes in and the waves again 
reach the cliffs they pick up the pebbles and hurl 
them against the rocky banks. They keep doing 
this day after day, and do you wonder that at last 
they make hollows and caves in the solid rock? 

The larger pieces of rock, which are broken 
from the cliffs, the waves leave upon the shore until 
they are smoothly rounded. The little pieces they 
carry far out, and, at last, where the water is quiet, 
let them sink to the bottom. 

It is in the bay that the waves are making land. 
Some of the little particles of rock from the cliffs 
are washed into the bay. Others are brought by the 
river that enters the bay. The waves make a smooth 
beach of the little grains of sand. It is a beach on 
which children delight to play. 

The grains of sand are not left in quiet. The 
waves keep turning them over and over. Some of 
the sand they pile high enough for it to dry out. 
Then the wind takes hold of it and builds sand 
dunes. 

The sand which the waves pile up along the 
shore protects the land. They can no longer get 
at it and tear it down. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



83 




THE WAVES MAKE A SMOOTH BEACH, 



QUESTIONS. 



Mention the different kinds of work the ocean is doing. 

Where do the waves work the fastest? 

What are the tools of the waves ? 

What makes the waves ? 

Where is the waste put that the waves take from the cliffs? 

What time of the year is the ocean the most stormy? 

Of what is the beach made ? 

What does the wind do with the sand? 

Tell how some of the little islands are made? 

What other kinds of islands have you learned about? 




THE RIVER MADE THE VALLEY. 



HOW THE RIVER MADE THE VALLEY. 

The river has much other work to do besides 
turning water wheels. 

The valley in which you live was made by the 
river. It did this by carrying away little by little 
the particles of rock and soil along its path. It has 
taken many years for the river to do the work. It 
has not finished yet. 

Let us look at the river after a heavy rain. The 
stream is yellow and muddy. It has almost over- 
flowed its banks. Logs are floating by. Near us a 
tree has tipped into the river. The water has torn 
away the soil that held its roots. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



85 



Where does the river get the mud which makes 
it so dirty? We will take our umbrellas and go out 
while it is raining to a little ravine. In summer 
there is no water here. Now the bottom of the 




THE WORK OF THE RILLS. 



ravine is covered with a muddy torrent. The torrent 
is hastening on to add its share to the river. 

Upon the sides of the ravine the water is at 
work. The slopes are just covered with tiny rills. 
Each rill is as muddy as it can be. 



86 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

The raindrops when they strike the ground pick 
up little particles of sand and clay. The clay makes 
them dirty, but they do not care. The sand they 
cannot carry easily and so they drag it along the 
ground. When many drops have united in a rill 
they are strong enough to carry bigger things. 
Watch closely and you will see what is happening. 
The rill is cutting a tiny channel upon the hillside. 
Many rills are doing the same thing, and if. you look 
about, you will see that the sides of the ravine are 
all furrowed in this way. 

Thus the work of tearing down the land goes 
on. The torrent in the bottom of the ravine into 
which the rills are flowing is hastening on to the 
river. There it will get rid of its load of mud and 
sand. 

It may be that so many creeks full of muddy 
water will be more than the river can take care of. 
The river cannot overflow its banks and do much 
harm when shut in between the hills. But when it 
reaches the lowland where it is bordered by a broad 
valley or plain it may form a flood. 

At such times the people in the lowlands are 
afraid of the river. It may spread over their rich 
farms. Then they will have to leave with their 
cattle and goods. Perhaps their houses will be 
washed away. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



87 



The river flows more slowly when it spreads 
out. It cannot any longer carry all the mud and 
sand which the creeks and rills gave it. When the 
farmer comes back after the water has gone down he 
finds that it has left a layer of mud over everything. 
It is the mud brought by the river that makes the 
bottom lands so rich. 




THE RIVER IS WASHING AWAY ITS BANKS. 

The river does not drop all of its load here. It 
carries much of the finer material into the lake or 
ocean into which it flows. 

The river thus does work in carrying dirt from 
one place to another. It is washing down the hills 
and filling up the lowlands, 



88 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

We have now seerf how much work the water 
can do in one storm. Do you wonder that it has 
done great things in thousands of years? It has cut 
canons so deep that you can hardly see the bottoms 
of them. It has worn down great mountains higher 
than any which you have ever seen. It has left only 
little hills in the place of these great mountains. 

QUESTIONS. 

Describe the brook or river after a hard rain. 

Is the water doing any work ? 

Describe the work of the raindrops on a hillside. 

Where will the soil wash away faster, in a grassy field or a plowed 
field? 

Have you seen sand-bars in the river? Why did the water drop 
the sand there? 

What time of the year is the river doing the most work ? 

Give the reasons for thinking that the river made the valley. 

Where is the land flooded when the river is high ? 

When a pond of muddy water dries up, what do you find where 
the water stood ? 

Where does the river carry the dirt which the rills bring it ? 

When does the river do the most work, when it runs swiftly or 
slowly ? 

What have you seen the water do near your home ? 




THE SUMMER STREAM. 



THE SUMMER STREAM. 



Let us visit the river upon a summer day. It 
is no longer a muddy torrent. In fact the stream is 
so different that we hardly know it. The clear water 
ripples gently. We can see the sand and pebbles in 
the bottom. Little fish are darting here and there. 

The river is doing no work now. The summer 
is its resting time. There are many kinds of pretty 
pebbles in the water. They are almost as round as 
marbles and very smooth. 



90 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

Such interesting stories they can tell. Each 
little pebble has a different one. They were once 
pieces of rough rock in the mountains at the head 
of the river. 

One piece fell from a rocky cliff and rolled into 
a dashing stream. Another piece was picked up by 
a little boy and thrown into a canon. A third came 
from a tunnel where miners were at work. It rolled 
down the mountain and into a creek. 

As winter came the little streams in which the 
pieces of rock lay were turned into dashing torrents. 
The pieces were rolled over and over for many days, 
but when summer came the water went down and 
they rested for a while. 

At last they reached the main river. They 
were much changed. Their corners were gone and 
they began to look like pebbles. Year after year 
the pieces of rock became smoother, and one summer 
they were dropped where you saw them. Another 
winter they will again be moving down the river, 
rolling and tumbling along in the muddy water. 

Place some bits of rocks in a dish and shake it 
for a few moments. You will find that the corners 
of the pieces have been rubbed off a little and that 
there is dust in the bottom. 

Why is the river water so clear in the summer? 
We can find out by following the river to its head, 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



91 



The river divides into many little streams. At the 
head of each there are clear springs. 




MORNING EAGLE FALLS IN GLACIER NATIONAL PARK 

( Copyright, 1912, by Riser Photo Co., for Great Northern R. RJ 



Spring water has come a long journey through 
the ground. It has lost all the mud which it had 



92 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

when on the top of the ground. The spring is 
filtered rain water. If you turn muddy water into a 
filter it comes out clear. In the filter there is either 
sand or rock full of tiny holes. Passing through 
these the water loses its mud. 

The river is muddy in the winter time, for then 
it gets the most of its water from the top of the 
ground. You know kow dirty the ground is. 

In some countries the rivers disappear in the 
summer. The thirsty air keeps taking the water as 
long as there is any in sight. If the river bed is 
sandy a part of the water escapes. It creeps in 
among the sand grains away from the sun and air. 
People obtain water from such a river by digging 
holes in the sand. 



QUESTIONS. 

Describe the difference between the summer and winter stream. 
How were the pebbles made? 

What did the river do with the material it ground from the pieces 
of rock? 

What is sand made from? Tell how it is made. 

Why is the water of the river clear in the summer time? 

What makes some creeks dry up in the summer? 

What is a filter? 

How do the springs act like filters? 

Tell how the bed of a dry creek looks. 



WHAT IS CLIMATE? 

The climate of a place is the kind of weather 
which it has. If it rains much in a place we say the 
climate of that place is wet. 

If the sun shines the most of the time and little 
rain falls, we say the place has a warm, dry climate. 
Nearly every place has a different climate. At my 
home it rains in the winter, and the summers are 
long and dry. Where you live it may snow or rain 
every month in the year. 

Many things work together to make the climate 
of a place. The sun, the winds, and the clouds are 
all striving with each other. The weather yesterday 
is not like the weather to-day. Winter is not like 
summer, nor spring like fall. 

Summer is warmer than winter, because in the 
summer we get more sunshine. In the south it is 
warm nearly all of the year. In the far north there 
is little sunshine and it is cold the most of the year. 

You will learn in the next lesson how the climate 
changes as you go up the side of a mountain. On 
the top of the mountain it is much colder than in the 
valleys below. At the foot of the mountain it may 

93 



94 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

be warm enough for oranges, while at the top there 
is snow the whole year through. 

The sun warms the land quickly. The heat of 
the ocean changes but little from winter to summer. 
The winds which blow from the ocean are cool. 
For this reason people who live near the ocean have 
a pleasant summer climate. 

In the summer the winds which blow over the 
land become warm. Upon 'the great plains these 
winds are so hot as to almost burn your face. 

It generally rains more near the ocean than it 
does far away. Mountain ranges have more rain 
than lowlands for their cool tops turn the clouds into 
rain. A country which has a high mountain range 
between it and the ocean gets very little rain. The 
mountain has taken the most of the moisture from 
the air. 

A place where but little rain falls through the 
year is called a desert. The desert has strange look- 
ing plants which can live a long time without water. 

The climate of a place determines what kind of 
plants can grow there. The climate also affects the 
animals. There are some places upon the earth 
where people cannot live because of the bad climate. 

The kind of work which people carry on is 
partly determined by the climate. Everywhere you 
go you will find people raising different kinds of 



SOME GEOGRAPHY. 95 

products and doing different things. Oranges can 
grow Only in a warm climate. We get apples and 
grain in cool climates. 

In wet countries the forests are often so dense 
that you cannot go through them without having a 
path cut. In the desert there is little in sight 
besides sand and rocks. 

The animals of the south have little fur. They 
are dressed by nature for the warm climate in which 
they live. In cold countries their fur is thick and 
long. 

In cold climates we need meat to eat. Where 
it is warm fruits and vegetables are better for us. 
In every place people raise what will grow best in 
that place. The different climates give us a great 
variety of food. 

If the climate were the same everywhere our 
world would not be as pleasant as it is. 



96 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 




GRINNELL MOUNTAIN FROM LAKE McDERMOTT, GLACIER NATIONAL 
PARK, MONTANA. 



QUESTIONS. 

Are the days cooler upon a hill or in a valley? 

Why are the nights cooler? 

Where does frost come first in the fall ? 

From which direction do the winds blow that bring rain ? 

Where do you think it is warmer in the winter, near the ocean or 
far away from it? Why? 

Mention the different things which make the climate of your 
home. 

Do ponds and lakes freeze over in the winter where you live? 

Does the ocean freeze ? 

What is a desert? 

What time of the year does it storm most? 

How do people keep warm where it is cold ? 

What do you eat that is raised in a warm climate? 



WHAT WE LEARNED BY CLIMBING A 

MOUNTAIN. 

Mountains are higher than hills. We might 
call a mountain a grown-up hill. Mountains are 
also rougher than hills. They have rugged cliffs 
and deeper canons. 

We climbed a high mountain once. Would 
you like to know what we saw? 

We started from the valley where the land is 
smooth and the river flows slowly. All the land 
was covered with grain-fields and orchards. The 
people there are farmers. 

As we traveled in the direction of the mountains 
the valley became narrower and the land not so 
smooth. We soon got among the foothills. These 
are little hills at the foot of the mountains. 

.A¥e left the grain-fields behind, but there were 
still many orchards to be seen. After a time the 
hills became too rough and steep for the orchards 
and we saw about us herds of cattle feeding. Cattle 
can find something to eat where the land is too 
rough for the farmer. 

The river now flowed in a narrow valley or 

97 



9 3 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 




canon. At one point there 
was a pretty waterfall 
The river tumbled over a 
ledge of rock with a loud 
noise. The river has been 
at work for a long time 
digging the canon in which 
it flows. Where the water- 
fall is, it found some very 
hard rock, so it jumped 
over the rock instead of 
cutting it away. 

As we went up the 
mountain we found that 



the climate changed. We 
seemed in a strange coun- 
try for everything was dif- 
ferent. In the valley the 
spring flowers had gone. 
Here they were thick on 
every side and there were 
many which we had never 
seen before. The days 
and nights were cooler. It 
seemed like spring. In 
truth it was spring, for 
winter lasts longer and 




HOME GEOGRAPHY. 99 

spring comes later in the mountains than it does in 
the valleys. 

The trees as well as the plants interested us. 
There were pines and firs that filled the air with a 
pleasant odor. Where the rough bark was broken 
we found the resinous sap. How sticky it was. 
That which had become dried made good chewing 
gum. 

We passed by a mine where the men were 
digging deep in the rocks for gold. We saw the ore 
come up out of the mine and go to the stamp mill. 
Thump, thump, thump! went the iron stamps as 
they crushed the rocks and set free the gold. 

By and by we came to a clear lake. There were 
forests and rocks around it. The water was so quiet 
that we could see everything on the shore reflected 
in it. We learned much from the lake, but you will 
hear about it in another chapter. 

Up we went, for we were still far from the top 
of the mountains. After a time the trees became 
smaller and at last we stood upon the bare, rocky 
slopes. Mosses grew upon many of the rocks and 
in warm nooks there were low bushes. The air was 
cooler than in the little valleys and along the brooks 
the spring grass had hardly begun to grow. 

You would hardly have thought it was the 
month of July, for snowbanks lay here and there on 



IOO 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



the shady slopes. How strange to be able to play 
snowball in summer! How long and cold the winter 
must be there! 

The climate there is much like that in the far 
north. The plants and animals that live there are 




THE WATER WAS SO QUIET. 

similar to those of the north. In climbing the 
mountain we passed through regions of different 
climate and productions just as we would do in going 
from our own home toward the cold north. Does 
not this seem very strange to you? 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



IOI 



At last we stood upon the summit of the moun- 
tains. It is so cold and barren there that nothing 
can -grow. We were very tired, but the view which 
we got over many miles of country interested us for 




THE MOUNTAIN SLOPED DOWN LIKE THE ROOF OF A HOUSE. 

a long time. We played that it was a great map, 
and we enjoyed studying it much more than those 
in the geography. 

The mountain slopes down like the roof of a 
house. We stood as it* were on the ridge of the roof. 

On the side of the mountain up which we 



102 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

had climbed, the water from the melting snow and 
the springs, after a long journey, goes down past our 
valley home. Upon the other side of the ridge, or 
summit of the mountain, the water flows down 
through another valley far away from ours. 

We stood with one foot upon one slope, and one 
upon the other. The raindrops falling there start 
away in different directions. 

How different their stories will be when they 
once more reach the ocean. They may never be 
near each other again. 

The ridge on which we stand is called a divide, 
because it makes the water flow in opposite directions. 

QUESTIONS. 

How are mountains different from hills ? 

What occupations do people follow in the valley? 

What kinds of work are carried on in the mountains ? 

What is a waterfall? 

Of what use are waterfalls ? 

Tell some of the ways in which pine trees differ from other trees. 

Of what use to us is the sap of the pine ? 

Where does snow stay the longest ? 

Where is it cooler on a summer day, in a valley or on a hill ? 

Find a divide near your home and describe it. 

How is the divide like the roof of a house ? 

How is going up a mountain like going toward the north ? 

Why do different plants grow at different heights on the mountain ? 

What climate do you like best ? 

Would you rather live in the valley or on the mountain ? Why ? 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



IO3 




THE WANDERER. 

Upon the mountain's height, far from the sea, 

I found a shell, 
And to my curious ear this lonely thing 
Ever a song of ocean seemed to sing — 

Ever a tale of ocean seemed to tell. 



How came this shell upon the mountain height? 

Ah, who can say 
Whether there dropped by some too careless hand — 
Whether there cast when oceans swept the land 

Ere the Eternal had ordained the day ? 

Strange, was it not ? Far from its native sea, 

One song it sang — 
Sang of the mighty mysteries of the tide — 
Sang of the awful vast, profound and wide — 

Softly with echoes of the ocean rang. 

And as the shell upon the mountain's height 

Sings of the sea, 
So do I ever, leagues and leagues away — 
So do I ever, wandering where I may, 

Sing, O my home — sing, O my home, of thee. 

— Helena Modjeska. 




MT. WILBUR FROM THE SHORE OF LAKE McDERMOTT, GLACIER 
NATIONAL PARK, MONTANA. 

STORY OF A MOUNTAIN. 

Before us rises a high mountain. Its top is 
white with snow. Its sides are steep and rocky and 
very hard to climb. What made the mountain? 
Has it always been there, or is it a little hill grown 
large and high? 

Mountains really do grow. Is that not strange? 
They were once lower than they are now. They 
began as little hills long ago and slowly kept getting 
larger. When mountains stop growing they do not 
remain always. They are wearing away, and after 
a long time may change to, little hills again. Let us 
see if we can understand how this is done. A moun- 
tain will interest us more when we know its story. 

104 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 105 

Some mountains are formed by the rising of the 
solid land on which we live. The land wrinkles in 
furrows and ridges. You can see how this is done 
by taking a piece of paper in your hands: when the 
paper is stretched out it is even like a plain; shove 
the opposite edges of the paper toward each other 
and it will wrinkle. There will be a ridge, and then 
a hollow, and then a ridge again. 

At first the ridges upon the earth where moun- 
tains are forming are not higher than hills, but they 
keep rising and rising until they reach, it may be, 
two or three miles into the sky. 

You can not see mountains grow, because they 
do so very slowly. You would have to watch many 
thousands of years to see one change a great deal. 

You have all heard of earthquakes, I am sure. 
At such a time the land trembles under our feet. 
The strongest buildings are sometimes thrown down. 
In places where mountains are growing we often have 
earthquakes. In the western part of our country we 
can see places where the land has changed its level 
fifty feet at the time of an earthquake. 

The mountain which rises so white in our 
picture is a volcano. It is one of the highest 
mountains in the United States and is called 
Mount Shasta. Volcanoes are formed in a different 
manner from other mountains. 



106 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

Have you ever heard what volcanoes are made 
of, and how they have buried whole cities? In 
Italy there is a volcano that buried two cities for so 
long a time, that people living near forgot that the 
cities had ever been there. 

Volcanoes are built of lava and ashes which are 
thrown out of an opening in the earth. Far down 
beneath our feet the rocks are very hot. In some 
places they are hot enough to melt. If there is any 
water in them it is changed to steam. The steam 
tries to get out just as it tries to escape from the 
boiler of an engine. Where it finds a weak place 
in the crust of the earth it makes a hole. Around 
this opening a volcano may be built up. Melted 
rock, pieces of solid rock, and ashes are blown out 
through the opening. After a time enough accumu- 
lates to form a mountain. 

If you can visit a furnace you may see melted 
iron which looks much like hot lava from a volcano. 
The clinkers from a coal fire look like the lava when 
it has become cold. 

We have seen how the river is at work making 
the valley in which it flows. We have seen that 
mountains are furrowed with gulches and canons 
made by the raindrops. The muddy streamlets 
after a rain are carrying the land away from the 
mountain sides. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



I07 



Do you not think that after a long time many 
streamlets could wash the mountain entirely away? 
If you should work long enough you could carry 
away a haystack by taking one straw at a time. 




GOING-TO-THE-SUN MOUNTAIN, GLACIER NATIONAL 
PARK, MONTANA. 



The snowy mountain which our picture shows 
will not last always. Every spring when the snow 
melts the streamlets are working as fast as they can 
carrying the particles of soil and rock down to the 
valley. Some time the mountain may be worn down 
and only a hill left in its place. 



SOMETHING ABOUT LAKES. 

You remember that in going up a mountain we 
passed a pretty lake. Would you not like to know 
something more about lakes? 

You have all seen ponds left by the rain in 
hollows of the land. Some of the boys have built 
rafts and paddled about on these ponds. 

A lake is much like a pond only that it is 
larger. Different lakes have different stories to tell. 
All these stories are interesting and we will listen to 
some of them. 

Our mountain lake was formed in a river valley. 
Below the valley the river flowed through a canon 
with steep, high walls. The falling rain soaked into 
the cracks on the rocky bank until by and by the 
rocks were made so loose that they were ready to 
fall. One wet winter the whole hillside slid down 
and blocked the river. A great mass of rocks and 
dirt filled up the whole canon. 

The river kept flowing into the valley above 
and soon a large lake filled it. When the water 
of the lake reached the top of the dam the river 
flowed on again. It tumbled over the dam and 

108 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



109 



went dashing down the cafion as if nothing had 
happened. 

After a time the lake became very pretty. 
Willows and grasses grew about its shores, and 
many water animals came to make their homes 
there. 




THE MEADOW TAKING THE PLACE OF THE LAKE. 

But the river was not idle. You know how it 
works a part of the year. It kept bringing down 
mud, and sand, and pebbles and had no place to 
leave them but in the lake. The upper end of the 
lake where the river flowed in began to fill up. At 



no 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



last a marsh took the place of this part of the lake, 
and then dry land covered with grasses. The land 
formed in this way we call a delta. 

The lake will after a time disappear and a beau- 
tiful meadow fill the whole valley. 




THE DELTA OF A RIVER. 



There are other kinds of lakes besides the one 
we have just learned about. The water in our 
mountain lake is fresh, and good to drink, because 
it has an outlet. There are lakes with no outlets 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. Ill 

and these are often very salty. Besides the mud 
and sand which the streams bring into the lakes 
there is a small amount of salt, soda, and other 
minerals. After a time the water becomes so salty 
that it is not fit to drink. In some places they make 
salt and soda from the water of such lakes. 

Lakes are very pretty and many people camp 
by them in the summer. They are also useful, 
because they store the water of the winter storms 
which would otherwise run away to the ocean. 



QUESTIONS. 
Tell what a pond is. 

Have you ever seen a lake? If so, describe it. 
Have you seen a land-slide after a heavy rain? Tell what hap- 
pened. 

Why did the river leave its load in the lake ? 

Of what value are lakes? 

Why is the water salty in some lakes ? 

What is a meadow? 

How does the ocean differ from a lake ? 

What is a delta ? 

Is the land formed by deposit from a river ncn or poor r 




A QUARRY. 



WHAT ROCKS ARE MADE OF. 



We have learned that soil is made from rock. 
Now we ought to learn something about rocks them- 
selves. Rocks are very useful in many ways. It is 
in the rocks that we find gold and other minerals. 

We have seen rocks in many places. In the 
hills and mountains they are sticking out of the 
ground. Along the ocean shore and in the canons 
the waters have washed the soil away and left them 
bare. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 113 

Do you know what a quarry is? It is a place 
where rock is obtained for buildings. The rock 
which we find on the top of the ground is dirty and 
often crumbles easily. It is changing to soil. To 
get clean, hard rock men open a quarry. 

To do this they first scrape away the soil. Then 
they use powder and blast the rock out until they 
get down where it is fresh. Then care is used, in 
breaking the rock, to get pieces of the right size. 
After the rock is broken hammers and chisels are 
used by the men, to shape the pieces as they wish. 

Many kinds of rock are used for buildings. 
Granite will be the most interesting to us, and so 
we will study a chip of that rock. 

Here is a piece of granite just from the quarry. 
I am sure that we have all seen granite. The piece 
is speckled with little grains of different color. Let 
us see what these grains are. 

Here is one that is clear and looks like a piece 
of glass. It is so hard that you cannot scratch it 
with a knife. This mineral is called quartz. 

There are also some little black grains in our 
chip of granite. If we examine them carefully we 
find that they can be split into thin scales which are 
elastic. This mineral is mica. 

There is another mineral in granite. It has a 
light color, but is not glassy like the quartz. It 



114 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

shows bright shining faces. This mineral is called 
feldspar. 

Take a hammer and pound a piece of granite 
until you have a fine powder. Wash away the dust 
and mica scales and you will have some clean white 
sand like that upon the beach. 

Nature is breaking the rocks in pieces, but she 
works quite differently. She takes a long time to 
make a piece of granite crumble to sand. 

The sand which you find by the water's edge is 
mostly grains of quartz. Quartz is used for making 
glass. 

You will find mica in the brooks in the summer 
time. When the water is clear you can see the shin- 
ing mica scales moving along the bottom with the 
current. They look like gold. 

Scales of mica are used to make the windows of 
stoves. These scales are very much larger than 
those found in granite. Can you think why glass 
would not do for stove windows? 

The feldspar in granite finally turns to clay. It 
is clay that sticks to our feet when it rains. Our 
china dishes are made from clay. 

Bricks are made from sand and clay mixed. 

When grains of sand become cemented so as to 
stick tightly together they form a kind of rock called 
sandstone. This rock is also used for buildings. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 115 

Limestone is still another kind of rock. You 
can tell limestone because it is quite soft, and when 
you put drops of an acid upon it little bubbles 
quickly form. Marble is one kind of limestone. It 
is used for statues. 

QUESTIONS. 

Tell some of the ways in which rocks are useful to us. 
Why do men dig deep in the earth to get rock for buildings? 
How is the soil made from rock ? 
Where have you seen rock? 
Can you tell how men quarry rock ? 
Mention some of the uses of glass. 
What uses are made of marble? 
Can you tell what mortar is made of? 

What part of granite makes clay? Give some of the uses of 
clay. 

Can you tell us something about mica? 

Tell us about the different kinds of rock used for buildings. 

Which is the prettiest ? 

Which is the softest ? 

How can you tell quartz when you examine a piece of granite? 



S?Z?r- 




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VIRGINIA CITY. 

WHERE MINERALS ARE FOUND. 

What minerals have you seen? Let us think. 
There is iron, which is used to make our stoves. 
Tin is used to coat many of our dishes. Copper is 
used in making wire and in many other ways. Gold 
and silver are used for money. They are also used 
in making dishes and jewelry. 

There are so many different minerals. Where 
do you suppose they are all found? We cannot go 
out in the hills and pick these minerals up in the 
form in which we see them. They are rough and 
dirty, and mixed with rock when first found. They 

116 J 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 117 

have to go through many processes before they come 
out pure and bright. 

If you were hunting for gold or silver, would 
you look in the valleys where grain and fruit are 
raised or would you go into the mountains? 

Minerals come out of the earth, but they are not 
often found in the soil. We would not be apt to 
find them in the garden or grain-field. Minerals 
come from the hard rocks in the mountains. 

In the valleys the rocks are buried deeply by 
the soil. In the mountains the rain has washed the 
soil away from the rocks, leaving them quite bare in 
many places. This is where we should go to hunt 
for minerals. 

Here is a man who can tell us something about 
minerals. He has spent many years hunting for 
them, and digging among the rocks. He is called a 
miner. 

He says that minerals are found in thin layers 
in the rocks. These layers or veins reach ever so 
deeply into the earth. Hundreds and hundreds of 
feet the miner digs down through the rocks as he 
follows a little vein of ore. He gets far from the 
light of day and has to use a candle to work by. 

The holes which the miner digs are called shafts. 
They appear very much like wells. The miners ride 
up and down in what is called a cage. The cage 



nS 



nOME CKOC.RAIMIY. 



looks like the elevators which are found in tall build- 



ings in cities. 



Mining is dangerous work. 



Sometimes the 
miners do not have good air to breathe. They are 
often hurt by falling rocks or by powder explosions. 




A GOLD MINE. 



Some mines have been dug nearly a mile deep. 
Would it not seem strange to ride down nearly a 
mile into the solid earth? The deep mines are often 
very hot. The men can stay in some of them only 
a little while at a time. 

There is much water in most deep mines. We 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. IlQ 

have learned that there are little underground 
streams running" through the cracks in the rocks. 
The shafts and tunnels cut some of these, and this 
is the reason the mines are so wet. 

It is hard and dangerous work to get the shining 
yellow gold. Men go all over the world hunting for 
it. What an interesting story gold might tell us — a 
story of how it was buried deep in the earth ever so 
long ago, and how the miners found it and brought 
it to the surface. 

To get the gold from the rock sticking to it the 
ore is put in a mill. The mill is a noisy place with 
heavy stamps of iron rising and falling all of the 
time. The stamps crush the rock and set the gold 
free. At last it comes out clean and bright. 

Most of the mines are found in mountainous 
countries. If you will look upon the map of your 
country or state you can tell where the mines are. 
You can imagine that in each mountain range which 
you see pictured upon the map there are hundreds 
of little holes. You can imagine also that these 
little holes are full of busy men. They are going in 
and out of the holes like so many ants, digging 
long underground passages and bringing the rock 
to the surface. 



120 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

QUESTIONS. 

Mention the different minerals which you have seen. 
• Which is the most valuable ? 
Which is the heaviest? 

If there are mines near your home, tell what you have seen men 
doing there. 

If you were looking for minerals where would you go? Why? 

Are there minerals underneath the soil of the valleys? 

Why do not men mine in the valleys? 

In what way is mining dangerous? 

What is the most useful mineral? 

Why are some mines hot ? 

How deep have men been in the earth? 

Give some of the qualities ol gold. 




THE INHABITANTS OF THE WATER. 

The water is full of living things. Watch the 
water of some quiet pond and you will see many 
sorts of animals. They are moving about looking 
for something to eat. 

The most of the animals that you find in the 
water spend all of their lives there. Some of them 
are fitted to live upon the land also. These go 
back and forth as they please. 

The land animals have legs for walking and 
lungs for breathing air. The water animals swim, 
or float, or creep upon the bottom. Some remain 
fastened in one place the whole of their lives like 
plants. Instead of lungs they have gills for breath- 
ing water. 



121 



122 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

We find many kinds of plants growing in the 
water. Those in the shallow ponds and lakes, whose 
roots reach into the mud and whose leaves and 
flowers are found upon the surface of the water, 
were once land plants. 

Besides these we find another class of plants 
called algae or seaweeds. These are very different 
from the plants which wfe have just mentioned. 
Their home has always been in the water. 

Some of them float in the water while others 
grow fastened to the bottom. Thev have no real 
roots, but take their food from the water by means 
of their leaves. 

If you could take a walk upon the bottom of 
the ocean it would seem like fairyland. Everything 
would be so strange and interesting. 

We should see waving seaweeds of many colors, 
and upon the bottom beautiful shells and delicate 
corals; little crabs of curious shape would run up 
and down the seaweeds or hide among their leaves. 
Some have little seaweeds growing upon their backs. 

We should see many fish and other animals, 
some very large and fearful to look at. 

Nearly all the fish that you find in the ocean 
die if placed in fresh water. The grandfathers of 
the fish which you catch in the brooks and lakes 
lived in the ocean a long time ago. Their children 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



123 



while hunting for food slowly became used to breath- 
ing fresh water. So at last they left the ocean and 
went up the rivers to live. They found food which 
they liked in the rivers and they did as you will 
learn plants have done. They adapted themselves 
to all kinds of places. These fishes have lived in 
fresh water so long that now salt water will kill 
them. 

You have all heard of the salmon. It can live 



•Twr^'f -'■' ' - — — - 







i 



:w+mrmmmmmm 



•'A. 1ST. 




PREPARING FOR THE OPENING OF THE FISHING SEASON IN THE 
COLUMBIA RIVER, NEAR ASTOKIA, OHEGjN 

in both fresh and salt water. This fish spends the 
most of its time in the ocean. When its eggs are 
ready to be laid it seeks a stream of fresh water. 

For days the streams along the north Pacific 
ocean are filled with salmon. They are crowding 



124 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



and pushing their way up stream. Those that are 
not killed at last reach the clear cold brooks in the 
mountains and there lay their eggs. 

Seals and whales are among the most inter- 
esting of the ocean animals. They are not fish, for 
they have to come to the surface of the water to 
breathe air. 




THE FUR SEAT.. 



What a strange story these animals can tell! 
Their grandfathers lived upon the land ever so long 
ago. They had four legs and walked around like 
other animals. 

They used to go into the water for food and 
at last spent the most of their time there. Their 
bodies and legs became changed so that they could 
swim or paddle through the water. Now they are 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



125 



at home in the water and very quick and graceful in 
their movements. Have you ever seen a seal out of 
water and noticed how awkward it is? The beau- 
tiful fur coat of the seal is like the coats its grand- 
fathers wore when they lived upon the land. The 
face of the seal is very different from that of the fish. 
It is much more intelligent. 

If you live near the ocean you have enjoyed 
playing along the shore at low tide. What have 
you discovered about the inhabitants of the ocean? 




QUESTIONS. 

How do water animals differ from land animals ? 
Do you know any animals that spend a part of their time in the 
water and part on the land? 

How do animals move through the water? 

How does the covering of fish differ from that of seals? 

Mention some of the fish that are found in fresh water. 

Mention the different kinds of water animals that you know. 

Tell what you know about the salmon. 

Why did the fish in the ocean go into fresh water? 

Mention diffierent kinds of water animals that are used for food. 

What water animals swim? 

What water animals stay in one place? 




THE SPROUTING SEED. 

Here is a horse-chestnut. How 
smooth and bright it is! Upon the 
outside there is a hard, brown shelL 
The white substance within looks 
much like the meat of a chestnut. 

We will partly cover one of the nuts in moist 
soil, and water it often. We may learn something 
interesting. 

You know that the tree grows from the little 
seed. Do you suppose there is a tiny plant wrapped 
up in the horse-chestnut? If there is one, it must be 
asleep. Perhaps the warm, moist soil will wake it up. 

Very soon the nut begins to swell. It is taking 
in water from the soil. Upon one side of the nut 
there are two little hollows coming together like the 
letter V. As the swelling goes on, the part of the 
shell within the V begins to split away from the rest 
of the shell. 

It takes several days for this to happen, but at 
last we can see why it is. There in the opening 
appears a slender shoot. It is splitting the shell 

apart and forcing its way out. 

126 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



127 




There must be something with- 
in the nut waking to life, for clay by 
day the little stem reaches farther 
out. The stem is turning down also 
as if it were trying to reach the soil. 

The nut has swollen so much now that it has 
split the shell. Within we can see the white meat of 
the nut. It splits easily into two parts. The little 
stem which is pushing its way out is also splitting. 

Between the two halves of the stem we now get 
sight of something new. It is the most wonder- 
ful of all. There are some little leaves unfolding. 
In a few days more they have opened. They are 
very delicate and tender, but just like the leaves 
of the horse-chestnut tree from which the nut 
came. 

The end of the little stem has reached the 
ground and is pushing down into it. The stem is 
to be the root of the little plant. Branching rootlets 
are already starting from it. 

But how can the plant grow before it has any 
roots? It is being fed from the white material 
within the nut. This is mostly starch. It is just 
what the little plant needs before it can shift for 
itself. The two halves of the nut which we have 
discovered are the seed leaves. After a time the 
plant will use up all of the food stored in them. 



J 28 




EOME GEOGRAPHY. 

They will be of no more use and 
will shrivel and die. 

By this time the little root 
has gone far down into the 
ground. The branching root- 
lets are growing". The leaves 
are now large enough to help. 
There are more o( them and 
they are 'reaching* up into the air. 
The roots take the food from 
the soil. This food passes up 
through the stem to the leaves. 
The sun shines upon the leaves 
and changes the food in such a 
way that the plant can use it. 

A tiny plant lay read^ 
formed in the seed or nut. It 
was the germ or embryo. 
Warmth and moisture were all 
that was needed to wake it into 
life. It will grow year after 
year and at last become a tree. 
Then you will find upon it in the 
spring long clusters of flowers, 
and in the fall the pretty red- 
brown nuts like the one you 
have studied. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



129 




QUESTIONS. 

Plant some beans and see if they behave as did the horse-ctest- 



nut. 



What is the use of the hard shell on the horse-chestnut? 

Mention some other seeds which have a shell on them. What 

are nuts? 

Can you tell where the water soaks into the horse-chestnuts? 

Of what use is the meat in nuts? What nuts have you eaten? 

What would happen if the little stem which pushes out of th-j 
shell did not get down into the soil? 

What are the two halves of the nut called ? 

Could you see the plant in the nut before it was put in the moist 

ground ? 

Do nuts have a covering? Are any of the coverings of nuts 

prickly ? 

What is it that makes the little leaves turn green ? 
Would the little plant grow without any sunlight ? 



' I 



WHERE THE FLOWERS GROW. 

Is there a girl or boy who 
does not know where to look for 
the wild flowers? Children have 
bright eyes. They did not 
learn from books, but 
Nature taught them. She 
showed them where to look ffjn 
in the meadow, and by the 
brook. 

They have found that each 
flower has its own home and its 
own time for blossoming. Some 
plants love the bright sun. 
Others hide away where there * 
is always shade. Some love 
the dry hillsides. Some can 
live only where their roots 
reach the water of the pond°^X 
or brook. 

Day after day there are 
beautiful flowers upon the teach- 
er's desk. The children will tell 

you where each kind came from. 
130 




HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



I 3 I 



The buttercup, the orange poppy, and the yellow 
violet came from the meadow. The prettiest flower 
of them all is the butterfly lily. It came from a dry 




hillside where you would hardly think anything 
could grow. 

The purple trillium grew in the shady woods. 
It is one of the earliest of the spring flowers. The 



132 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



marsh marigold and Jack-in-the-pulpit are dwellers 
in wet places. The grasses and cat-tails came from 
the quiet pond. 




FRINGED GENTIAN. 



The pond lily loves the still water of the pond 
or river. Its great leaves and beautiful flowers 
cover the water. Pond lilies are hard to get with- 
out a raft or boat, but we prize them the more for 
this. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 133 

Study some of the little flower buds and you 
will see how delicately the petals are wrapped. 
Some flowers unfold with the morning sun, others 
wait until evening. 

The plant loves its home just as you do yours. 
Away from its home the plant does not grow well. 
It is not happy. 

How do you suppose there came to be so many 
different plants, each kind having a place of its own 
in which it loves to grow? 

I will tell you the reason. I am sure you can 
understand it. We have already found that plants 
want good soil, water, and light. Wherever it rains 
we find the ground covered with little plants. Each 
is struggling to get sunshine and food. There is 
not room enough for all of them in the best places. 
Many are crowded out and have to live where the 
ground is dry and barren. Some, like the pond lily, 
are crowded into the water. 

At first this was pretty hard for them and ever 
so many died. After a long time, however, the plants 
became used to their different homes. They became 
so contented that they wanted to stay where they 
were. They would not be happy if they had to go 
back to their old homes. 

Out on the meadow you can see how the plants 
are still crowding @ach other. Each plant is striving 



134 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

to get all the sunshine, and plenty of room for its 
tiny roots. The plants next to it are doing the same 
thing. The strongest succeed, but the weak ones 
finally droop and die. Some time you will want to 
know more about how plants as well as animals are 
struggling. It is a strange story. 

The flowers in our gardens once grew wild. 
Our grandfathers dug them up and set them in 
gardens. They tended thes'e plants very carefully 
for years, giving them plenty of water and soft rich 
earth for their roots. This made the flowers larger 
and more beautiful. The many kinds of roses have 
grown from the wild rose of the woods. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



13s 



jfllflfc, 



•■■ 



KIT 



-^c^i^* 





QUESTIONS. 

Mention some of the early spring flowers and tell 
where they grow. 

If you take a plant from a sandy soil and place 
it in a clayey soil, will it grow as well ? 

Will a plant from a dry country grow well where it is very wet ? 

Are there any places where you do not find plants growing? 

What are the little plants struggling for? 

Of what use are the flowers upon the plants ? 

What is necessary to make the little seed sprout ? 

How do some plants scatter their seeds ? Does the wind help ? 

Tell how our garden plants were obtained. 

What plant turns its blossoms toward the sun ? 

How do some plants hold themselves against walls ? 




PINE FOREST. 




THE BIG TREES OF CALIFORNIA. 



SOME COMMON TREES. 

We could not do without the trees. Not only 
are they very useful, but they help make the world a 
beautiful home for us. 

Trees furnish us food in the shape of fruit and 
nuts. Their trunks are made into lumber for our 
houses. Paper is made from certain kinds, and the 
bark of others is of great value for tanning leather 
and in the manufacture of cork. 

Where the trees are thick they form a forest. 
Many animals make their homes in the forests, and 
birds build their nests there. 

How we enjoy the shade of the trees on a 

137 



138 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



warm day! The cattle and sheep are also found 
there contentedly chewing their cuds. 

There are many reasons why we should pre- 
serve the trees. They protect the ground from the 




WHITE OAK. 

hot sun. The leaves and moss which are found 
under them hold the rain-water so that it does not 
run away so quickly. Where there is no vegetation 
the water runs rapidly away, cutting little gullies 
and carrying off the soil. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



l 39 



Trees which keep their leaves through the year 
are said to be evergreen. The pines and firs and 
cedars, as well as the live oak, are evergreen. How 
fragrant a forest of such trees is! 




LIVE OAK. 



The pine loves the sandy soil and the rocky 
mountain slopes. From the sap of the pine we get 
resin and turpentine. 

Most trees drop their leaves in the fall. At the 
base of the leaf stem there is a little bud. It is well 
wrapped up and protected from the wet and cold. 
The warm sun of spring makes the buds begin to 



140 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



swell. Soon they burst their wrappings and the 
bare trees are covered with green again. 

Trees are suited to different places. This came 
about just as you remember I told you it did with 




COTTONWOOD. 



the flowers. The willow loves the wet places. It 
does not care much where it grows if only it has 
plenty of water. Wherever you find willows grow- 
ing you may be sure there is water 



HOME GEOGRAPHY, 



In the northern woods there are the birch and 
maple. The bark of the birch is used by the Indians 




for making canoes. The maple is an old friend. You 
have heard how maple sugar is made from its sap. 



142 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

How manv have seen a cottonwood tree? We 
find this tree in dry countries. It grows close to 
the streams. It is called cottonwood because of the 
downy tuft upon the seed. 

Do you have any oak trees near your home? 
There are many kinds of oaks. One is always 
green and so we call it live oak. 

The fruit trees of our gardens were once wild. 
Did you ever find apple trees in the woods? Their 
apples are small and sour. Apple trees have been 
grown in gardens for many years. This has made 
the apples larger and more pleasant to the taste. 

The nut trees are a great attraction in the fall. 
Children who have never been nutting do not know 
what fun it is. 

QUESTIONS. 

Mention some of the trees that drop their leaves in the fall. 

What trees have leaves all of the time? 

Describe the leaves of the pine. 

In what kind of a covering do the seeds of the pine grow ? 

Mention some trees that grow upon dry ground. Some that 
grow upon wet ground. 

Do you know any of the trees that grow in warm regions ? 

What kinds of trees make the best wood for our fires ? 

Name as many as you can of the nut trees. 

Name a number of fruit trees. Of what use are trees? What 
is a forest? How do forests protect the soil? What effect has the 
rain upon countries where there is little vegetation covering the 
ground ? 




MEADOWLARK. 
Reduced from large four-color illustrations of the Audubon Society bird pictures. 

SOMETHING ABOUT THE BIRDS. 

If birds could talk what stories we might hear. 
We might learn of a time, ever so long ago, when 
their grandfathers were not birds at all. Then they 
could not fly, for they had neither wings nor feathers. 
These grandfathers of our birds had four legs, a 
long tail and jaws with teeth. After a time feathers 
grew upon their bodies and their front legs became 
changed for flying. These were strange looking 
creatures. There are none living like them now. 

All about us now are the pretty birds. They 
wake us in the morning with their music. We 
think sometimes that they eat too much of our fruit, 

143 



144 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



but then, if there were no birds to kill the worms 
upon the trees we might have less fruit still. 

Each kind of bird is fitted for the place in which 
we find it. Some birds are fitted for life upon the 
water. Others do not fly much, but spend their time 
upon the ground, while still others are on the wing- 
much of the time and have their nests in tall trees. 

The duck lives upon the water. It has strong 
legs and feet with webs between the toes for paddling. 




DUCK. 



The stork is a wading bird, hunting for its food 
in shallow ponds. It has long legs which fit it for 
wading. In the water it finds insects and little fish, 
the kinds of food which it loves best. 

The hawk has very sharp eyes. As it sails 
through the sky it is on the watch for a mouse or 
perhaps a tender chicken. It has sharp talons for 
catching and holding its food. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



145 



How delicate are the feet and legs of the robin. 
They are so small that it seems as if they could 
hardly hold up the body of the bird. The robin 
does but little walking. That is the reason his legs 
are so small. 




OSTRICH. 



The ostrich has such small wings that it cannot 
fly. This bird has, however, very large legs with 
which it can run rapidly over the ground. 

Each kind of bird builds a different nest, and 



146 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

has a place of its own for its nest. The humming 
bird builds one of the softest down, upon a swing- 
ing branch. The swallow builds its nest of mud, 
under some protecting roof or rocky cliff. Some 
birds take no pains with their nests. They gather 
a few sticks and leaves for a rude nest, or even 
lay their eggs in some hollow in the rocks. 

We should not wantonly kill the birds and rob 
their nests. The birds are happy in their lives as 
you are in yours. They make us happy, too, with 
their songs, and eat many worms and insects which 
injure our fruit. 

QUESTIONS. 

Tell Low birds differ from other animals. 
What birds are used for food ? 

What birds have been domesticated ? What are the names cf 
some of these birds? 

What bird is used to carry letters ? 

Mention some common kinds of fowl. 

Do you suppose our hens used to be able to fly long distances? 

Do tame ducks fly much? 

Do you know any birds that make their nests on the ground? 

Why do many birds make their nests in trees ? 

Name some of the song birds. 

Where does the woodpecker get his food ? 

Is the bat a bird ? 

Mention some water birds. 

Why do birds go north in the spring and south in the fall ? 




YOUNG VIRGINIA DEER. 



SOMETHING ABOUT THE WILD 
ANIMALS. 

Animals are not at all like plants. The plant 
spends its whole life in the spot where it sprouted 
from the seed. Its roots hold it firmly in one place. 
The soil may be poor and the leaves of the plant 
may get little sunshine, but it cannot help itself. 

Animals go from one place to another for their 
food. They live where they can find plenty to eat 
and are well protected from their enemies. 

Plants take their food in through their roots. 
They breathe by means of their leaves. Animals 
have a mouth for eating. They breathe with lungs. 

Some of the animals get their food from plants. 

147 



148 



HUME GEOGRAPHY 



Such animals have flat teeth for grinding this food. 
Many animals live upon those animals which they 
can catch and kill. They have sharp teeth for tear- 
ing flesh. 




YOUNG DEER. 



If you study the animals you will find that each 
one is fitted for the place in which you find it. 
There is a struggle among animals for food just as 
there is among plants. The weaker animals choose 
their homes where they can be safest from the attacks 
of the stronger ones. Because of these things many 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



149 



animals have come to live in the ground, and others 
in the trees. 

The little mole, who spends all of his time in 
the ground, has a nose for digging in the dirt. It is 
dark there and he has no use for his eyes. Now he 











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FOX. 



is almost blind, but his grandfathers a long time ago 
lived upon the top of the ground and had as good 
eyes as any animal. 

The coyote lives in the open plain or hilly 
country. He has use for sharp eyes and ears and 
long, slender legs. He has a sneaking look and 
such a funny bark at night and morning. His safety 



i5° 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



is in being able to run fast. He is fond of rabbits 
and chickens. The coyote is very cunning, and if 
you are looking for him you will seldom see him. 

The rabbit is a timid little animal. His home 
is in the bushes. He has to look out for the larger 




animals who would eat him if they could. His long 
ears are very useful, and he can run, too, when he 
tries. 

There are many kinds of squirrels. Some eat 
nuts and make their homes in the trees. There they 
are safe except from the thoughtless boy with his gun. 
How gracefully they run up and down the trees and 
jump from branch to branch. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



151 




The ground squirrel does 
not care for trees. His food is 
in the grainfields, and to get a 
safe home he burrows in the 
ground. Like the gophers and 
prairie-dogs, a number of ground 
squirrels form a colony and live 
in a little village together. 

In places their holes are so 
thick that it is dangerous to ride 
over the ground on horseback. 
How straight they sit up in 
front of their holes ! When 
alarmed they drop out of sight with a quick whistle. 
Have you ever seen a wildcat? This animal 
is much larger than the house cat. It has a yellow- 
ish color and short tail. Perhaps you have seen 
little kittens spit and scratch. Before they have 
been handled much they act as the wild kittens do. 
The wildcat cannot run like the coyote, but it will 
fight more for its protection. It is fond of rabbits 
and chickens too. 

There are many animals that have been hunted 
so much they are seldom seen. Among these is the 
bear. We find it now only in the wildest places 
where few people go. 

In the fall we may see them around the berry 



152 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



patches. The bears love blackberries and huckle- 
berries as well as manzanita berries and hazel nuts. 
The bear sleeps through the winter. In the spring 
he comes out of his den very thin and hungry. 




BEARS. 



How beautiful and graceful the deer are! They 
have good noses and slender legs. By these means 
they protect themselves from the most of the other 
animals except man. 

Do you not think it is wrong to kill the deer 
for sport? They enjoy life as well as we do. They 
will soon be gone if we do not stop hunting them. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

QUESTIONS. 



153 



How do animals differ from plants ? 

Mention some plant eating animals. What animals eat meat? 

What kind of teeth has the dog? What are his claws for ? 

Do you know any animals that eat both animal and plant food? 

What kind of teeth do we have ? What is our food ? 

Do you know any plants that live upon the juices of other 
plants ? 

Can you imagine why the mole lives in the ground ? 

What animals love grain ? What ones eat nuts ? 

What ones have slender legs for running away from their 
enemies ? 

What kinds of food do bears like best ? 

Why is it that so many wild animals have disappeared ? 

How shall we protect the animals? 

Do you not think the woods would be lonesome without any of 
the wild animals or birds? 





HOMES OF THE ANIMALS. 



Every animal lives where it can get the kind 
of food that it likes. Some animals stay near the 
same place the whole of their lives. They either 
store up food for the winter, or go to sleep in some 
protected place, and never wake until spring. 

Other animals never have a home. They 
wander here and there in search of food. When 
winter comes they seek a warmer climate; in spring 
they return toward their summer feeding grounds. 

Among the animals that never have permanent 
homes are the wild horses. They wander in bands 

r 54 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 155 

wherever there is grass and water; in winter they 
dig the snow away with their feet, and in this way 
reach the grass. 

The little colts do not need a shelter. They 
can run and play when they are only two or three 
days old. Their mother is strong and watchful and 
can protect them from the coyotes and mountain 
lions. 

The squirrel has a snug home in a hollow tree. 
In this he stores a supply of nuts for the winter. 
The little squirrels need protection and they are safe 
within the tree. If the supply of nuts is short they 
go to sleep until spring. 

You have all seen the cozy nest of the mouse. 
The young mice are blind and helpless." They could 
not live without the protection of the soft nest so 
cunningly hidden away. Kittens and puppies also 
need a snug home for many days. 

Some of the homes are so strange! The wood 
rat gathers a great pile of twigs under which his 
nest is made. The trap door spider lives in a little 
tube in the ground. The tube is about six inches 
long and has a trap door at the upper end. The 
door is strong and hinged, so that when the spider 
goes home it will shut out the rain, and protect him 
from his enemies. 

The ants build homes underground. They 



156 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



seem busy all of the time. The dirt which they 
take from the underground passage ways is piled 
neatly around the door. 

You will find the hermit crab among the rocks 




THE HOME OF THE ANT. 



at low tide. He carries his home on his back. 
The home is not his own, but one he has stolen. 
When he is in need of a new house he finds an 
empty turban shell or a periwinkle and crawls into 
it. If it fits, he stays there. How funny he looks 
as he runs around with the clumsy shell upon his 
back. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



157 



Each kind of bird makes a different nest. The 
eagle's nest is a rude, coarse home for the little ones, 
but the humming bird's is of softest down. 

When the little birds grow up they build nests 
just like those they were hatched in. The mother 
birds teach them in some way so that they never 
forget. 




QUESTIONS. 



What is the use of a home? 

Mention some animals that do not have homes. 

Of what does the mouse build its nest? 

Mention some animals that make their homes fn the ground. 

Mention some that make their homes under stones and logs. 

What is the home of a bear called? What does the bear do in 
the winter? 

Where do birds go in the winter? Are there any that stay with 
us through the winter? 





INDIAN HOMES. 




ENCAMPMENT OF BLACKFEET INDIANS, GLACIER NATIONAL PAFK 



OUR HOMES. 



A long time ago people did not have beautiful 
homes. Then all the people on the earth were rude 
and savage. They wandered from place to place for 
food, and were like animals in many ways. 

What sort of homes do you suppose these sav- 
age people had? They spent hardly as much time 

'59 



l6o HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

upon their shelters as the birds do upon their nests. 
Some of them lived in caves which they found in 
the rocks. Others built rude huts of bark or reeds 
to protect them from the cold and rain. 

People chose places to live where they would 




A HOUSE BOAT 



be safe from the wild animals. They had also to 
defend themselves in their fights with each other. 

Then hunting and fishing was the chief occupa- 
tion of the people, and they had to go where there 
was game to be found. When they discovered that 
they could raise grain and vegetables they did not 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



161 



move so much. Staying longer in one place they 
built better homes. 

Everything is quite different now. A part of 
the people upon the earth have become civilized 
Many of us have never seen savages or Indians. 




A STONE CABIN. 



We live in houses which have cost much money and 
work. Lumber and stone and iron are used. 

We do not have to move from one place to 
another to get enough to eat. People who live far 
apart exchange goods with each other. Things 




A SOD CABIN 




A LOG CABIN 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



163 



which we need we go to the store and buy. We do 
not have to travel hundreds of miles to get them. 

We build our homes for protection from the 
weather. We fill them with all sorts of things. 
Some of these are to be used. Others are to make 
our homes beautiful. We do not fear wild animals 
now. We do not fear the attacks of savages. 




CABIN MADE OF ROCK SALT. 

Let us find out something more about the 
materials that our homes are made of. Where there 
are many trees sawmills are put up to cut the logs 
into boards. Where there are no sawmills the 
houses are made of logs. The roof is often made 
of the bark of trees. 

Where there are no trees or lumber to be had, 



164 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



the houses are made of stone or adobe. There are 
many kinds of stone. It is quarried out of the earth. 
Adobe bricks are made by mixing clay and 
chopped straw. This material is pressed into molds 
and then left in the sun to dry. The red bricks 




A HOME IN THE COUNTRY. 



which you have seen are made by baking a mixture 
of sand and clay. The roofs of adobe houses are 
often made of brush on which mud is spread. This 
does not keep out the rain very well. 

Did you ever see a sod house? Square pieces 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



I6 5 

A 



of grass sod are cut and piled up like bricks, 
dugout is a house made partly in the ground. 

What would you think of a house made of salt? 
Away in the desert of eastern California there is a 
neat little cabin built of blocks of rock salt. 




ESKIMO IGLOO. 



The Indians of North America lived in wigwams, 
rude structures made of the skins of animals or of 
the barks of the trees of the forests. 

In the far North the Eskimos in the winter build 
their homes of snow, as the best material to keep out 
the cold. In fact, climate and suitable material has, 
even in the most civilized countries, much to do with 



1 66 home Geography. 

the style of building adopted. Flat roofs or no roofs 
at all are preferred in lands where no rain falls, as in 
parts of Egypt and India; slightly sloping roofs 
where rain but no snow falls, and high pitched roofs, 
to shed the snow, are common in all Northern lands. 




A COLONIAL HOME IN NEW ENGLAND 

QUESTIONS. 

What kind of houses did people have a long time ago? 
Where did they select places for their homes? 
How did their homes differ from those of animals? 
Why do we build better houses to-day? 
Why do we not have to go here and there for food ? 
Have you ever seen the home of an Indian? Of what was it 
made? 

Have you ever seen a log cabin? W T hat is a dugout? 

Have you ever been in a cave? How would it do for a home? 

What is rock salt? 

Would a house of rock salt stand long where it rains much? 




RED MEN'S MODE OF TRANSPORTATION 



HOW PEOPLE USED TO TRAVEL. 



We have not always had steamers and cars to 
carry us about. How fast they take us! We 
almost seem to fly like the birds. 

It was only a few years ago that steamers and 
cars were first made. Before that time it would 
have taken us several months to cross our country 
from the east to the west. Now we can go from 
the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific ocean in about four 
days. 

We have learned that a long, long time ago 

people everywhere lived as savages do to-day. They 

did not have the nice things that we have. They 

167 



HOME GEOGRAPHY, 



could not take long journeys because they had to 
walk wherever they went. 

Finally some of these people who lived so long 
ago made a discovery. They discovered what all 
the boys know who live near a pond of water. They 
found that they could ride upon the water by getting 
upon a piece of wood. 

They soon learned to make canoes out of logs, 
They could ride in the canoes and keep dry. At 
first poles were used to push the canoes along. 
Then they made paddles. 

These people who lived so long ago we call 
savages. After they had discovered how to ride on 
the water traveling became easier. They went up 
and down rivers and across small lakes. They were 
careful, however, not to get too far from land. 
Their boats were small and could not stand the 
great waves of the ocean. 

Have you ever seen the graceful canoes which 
the Indian makes to-day? Along the coast of Alaska 
the Indians hew their canoes out of great cedar logs. 
Some of the canoes are large enough to hold fifty 
people. 

Some of the Indians of the North make their 
canoes out of the skins of animals. Birch bark 
canoes are light and pretty. An Indian can carry 
one upon his back for a long distance. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



169 



Did you ever try paddling a canoe? Do you 
not think it is hard work? We are sure that the 
Indian was very happy who first found that he could 
make the wind send his canoe through the water. 

By putting up a little piece of cloth or matting 
the wind would make the canoe go faster than he 




HAULING FREIGHT BEFORE THE RAILROADS WERE BUILT. 



could paddle it. All that he had to do was to sit in 
the back end and steer it with a paddle. 

While they were still savages our grandfathers 
became tired of carrying things on their backs when 
they made journeys over the land. Then they 
thought they might make use of some of the wild 



170 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

animals. They caught the wild horse, and the 
camel, and the elephant, and tamed them. These 
animals are very intelligent, and they soon learned 
to carry heavy loads. 

Where there were great plains to be crossed the 
camel was used. This animal can go a long time 
without water. Where there were few streams 
people traveled mostly by land. Where there were 
many rivers and lakes they Went by water. 

The people who lived long ago had no way of 
crossing the high mountains. They could not cross 
the oceans with their frail boats. They could not 
learn about the world as we can now. Would you 
like to have lived then? 

QUESTIONS. 

What animals are used the most for riding? 

What is the fastest animal that we use ? 

Are there any wild horses in our country? 

What is the largest animal that has been tamed ? 

Where are elephants found ? Describe their appearance. 

What animals are used in the North for hauling sleds ? 

What are oxen used for? 

Describe some of the ways in which canoes are made. 

How did people cross rivers before they had boats ? 

Mention the different animals used for carrying loads. 




TRAVELING TO-DAY 



We can travel now as far in one day as people 
once could in a month. We can sit in an easy chair 
in a car and be as comfortable as at home. The 
train carries us across the rivers and through the 
mountains. It does not stop for anything. 

One hundred years ago there were no railroads 

and only a few wagon roads. People did not then 

travel as much as they do now. Trails were made 

first. Over these they could walk or ride horseback. 

Then wagon roads were made. They were at first 

very rough and muddy when it rained. 

171 



172 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



You all know how roads are graded now. If 
there is a hill in the path of a road, powder is used 
and the rock is blasted away. The road is made 
upon a gentle slope, so that the horses can pull a 
heavy load. 




A ROAD CUT THROUGH A HILL. 



Roads are made smooth and hard by putting on 
them a layer of crushed rock and drawing heavy 
rollers over the rock. Where many people travel 
roads are sprinkled so that they will not become 
dusty. 

Many railroads have been built through the 
valleys where the most of the people live. They 
have also been built across broad deserts, so that 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 1 73 

those who live upon opposite sides of the desert can 
go back and forth. 

Mountain ranges used to separate people. 
Those living upon one side did not know anything 
about the other side. Long tunnels have been dug 
through mountains, so that now we can cross a 
mountain as easily as we used to cross a plain. 

Great steamers move over the oceans. They 
are much swifter and more comfortable than sailing 
vessels. Steamers do not have to wait for favorable 
winds. 

Let us take a trip from the city to a mine in 
the high mountains. We shall see how people 
travel in all kinds of places. 

We will first go on board a steamer and ride up 
the river for a few miles. Our steamer does not 
mind the wind, and it can move against the current 
of the river. The steamer is like a floating hotel. 
There is everything on it that we need. 

As soon as we get where the river becomes 
shallow the steamer has to stop. Now we leave it 
and take the cars. For many hours the engine pulls 
our train through a nearly level country. There are 
many people living here, and much produce to be 
carried back and forth. 

At last the mountains come in sight. Now the 
train moves more slowly. The land slopes upward 



174 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



toward the mountains and the engine has to work 
hard. How it puffs as the train winds among the 
hills like a great snake! 




By and by we reach the end of a valley and 
here the railroad ends. The steep mountains rise 
all around us. 

We leave the cars wondering what we shall 
ride in next. We are not long in finding out. Near 
by stands a huge stage-coach with six horses hitched 
to it. We climb in and the driver cracks his whip 
Away we go up the mountain road. Up we go mile 
after mile. We ride along the sides of rocky canons 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



175 

so deep that we can hardly see their bottoms. The 
road is rough and we hold tightly to the stage coach 
to keep from being thrown off. 




TOURISTS ON TRAIL AT ALTYN LAKE, ON PIEGAN PASS TRAIL, 
GOULD MOUNTAIN. 

At last we come to the end of the road. Now 
we shall surely have to walk, for the mine where we 
wish to go is higher still. No, there is a string of 
mules waiting for us. Some of them have packs on 
their backs. Others are saddled for us to ride. 

Now we are off again through the mountain air. 



[j6 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

We go very slowly now. The mules are careful and 
pick their way over the rocks and past the dangerous 
cliffs. It would be hard work to build a railroad 
here. 

The mine is reached and near it is a little town. 
Here the miners live and work. If we wish to go 
farther and reach the very top of the mountains we 
shall have to walk. 

What an interesting time we have had. In one 
journey we have traveled in many different ways. 

QUESTIONS. 

How do men go to work to make a wagon road ? 

In what way do people travel where there are few roads ? 

What is the quickest way of traveling? 

Mention the different means for making street cars go. 

What are paddle wheels? 

How are goods carried across land where there are no railroads I 

Mention other ways of traveling than those given in the lesson. 

Where do we find the most railroads? 

Are there any oceans or mountains that cannot be crossed ? 

Where are stage coaches used? 




INDIAN MAKING BASKETS, CALIFORNIA. 



OCCUPATIONS. 

We call those people savages who lead a rude, 
wild life. The Indian is a savage. His life is 
simple. He does not trade much and has few occu- 
pations. Those things which he cannot get or make 
himself, he goes without. 

The Indian hunts his own food. He makes his 
clothing from the skins of animals which he has 
killed. He knows how to build a rough shelter to 
protect his family from the storm. 

Savages live very much as animals do. When 
food is plenty they eat all they can. When food is 
scarce they go hungry. They do not work any more 
than is necessary. 

Savages do not store up food as we do. They 
have very few different occupations. They trade 
but little with each other. 

When people become civilized they find that 

i 77 



178 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

they need many more things than they did before. 
There are so many different things to be done that 
one man cannot learn to do them all well. The 
father cannot find time to raise food for his family, 
build their home, and make their clothes. Because 
of this the work that has to be done in a country 
is divided up among different men. Each man 
picks out the thing that he likes to do the best 
and spends all his time doing that thing. 

One man likes to use tools and work with wood. 
He becomes a carpenter and spends his time build- 
ing houses for people who are doing other things. 

Another man likes to work in the ground. He 
spends all his time raising vegetables. He learns 
what plants will grow best where he lives and just 
how to take care of them. You can easily under- 
stand that if he had to spend much of his time 
making clothes he would not be as good a gardener. 
Another man who has a taste for trading takes the 
vegetables and carries them from house to house, 
selling what is needed in each place. He learns 
what people want and how to get it for them. 

Some men are fond of animals. They live upon 
a farm or ranch and raise horses, cattle and sheep. 
These men do not have time to raise grain and have 
it made into flour. They get flour from a man who 
makes that his business. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 1 79 

The tailor knows how to make clothes. He 
depends upon other men for all the different things 
which he needs to eat, as well as those which will 
make his home beautiful. 

There are many trades and occupations. It 
would take a long time to name them all. Each 
man learns to do one thing. He can make his 
living if he does that thing well. You see now how 
it is that work is divided. Each of us depends upon 
others for the most of the things which we want. 

You will be successful if you learn to do one 
kind of work. You will be more successful if you 
do that work better than any one else can. Have 
you heard the old saying, "Jack of all trades and 
master of none"? What does that mean? 

QUESTIONS. 

What do we mean by a savage? Who are the Indians? 

Do you know what kind of homes they have? 

How are we different from savages? 

What kinds of work do you think the Indian does? 

Mention some of the important trades or occupations? 

What kind of work do you like best ? 

What are the occupations of people near where you live ? 

Why is it better to know one thing well? 

What kinds of work are carried on in cities ? 

What work do most people in the country carry on? 

What kind of work is done in the mountains? 

What work do sailors do ? 




A SCENE ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 

TRADE AND COMMERCE. 

We have learned that the savage depends upon 
himself for what he needs. He is easily satisfied. 

Would you be happy to change places with an 
Indian boy and live as he does? You would have 
only those things to eat which your father could get 
with his own hands. You would have very few 
playthings. Can you tell us what kinds of food 
would be left in your home if some one should take 
away everything that was not raised near by? 

If all the pretty and useful things which were 
brought from another place or country should be 
taken away from your home, would it not be bare 
and lonely. 

It is trade and commerce which makes it pos- 
sible for us to have so many things. If you should 

181 



1 82 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

travel over the world you would find a different kind 
of people in every country that you came to. You 
would find also that each country had a different 
climate. Because of these things you would see 
many fruits that you do not have at home. You 
would see people dressing in strange ways and 
making strange things. 

A long time ago all people were wild and sav- 
age like the Indians. They did not travel farther 
than was necessary to get something to eat. Those 
living on one side of the ocean did not know that on 
the other side there were people who had many 
things that were very pretty and useful. 

As people slowly became civilized they traveled 
farther. They crossed the high mountains, and the 
broad oceans. Then those living in different parts 
of the world began to learn about each other, and 
how much it would be to their advantage to trade 
and make exchange. 

In warm countries they raised more rice and 
oranges than were needed at home. Some of these 
things were exchanged for apples and grain from the 
cooler countries. 

In one country they raised silkworms and made 
beautiful clothes. In another country were many 
sheep, and there woolen clothes were used. In still 
another region they raised cotton. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



183 



As people became aquainted with their neigh- 
bors they began to exchange those things of which 
they had an abundance for others which they did 
not have. In this manner trade and commerce 
began. 



§ e 








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•&***?'( \*«*^^^ 



Now a great many people spend all their time 
carrying goods from one part of the earth to another. 
They bring us many things which we enjoy greatly. 
They carry to other people beyond the ocean the 
fruit which we raise and the things which we make. 

Railroad trains and steamers go all over the 
world. The people in the farthest islands are 



184 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

becoming acquainted with us. They want our 
clothes and machines. We want the pretty things 
which they make or the fruit which they raise. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is trade or commerce? 

What is made near your home and shipped away? 

What does the farmer raise near your home ? 

What do you eat that is brought from across the ocean ? 

What things in your home came from another country ? 

What fruits are brought from the South? 

What do we ship to the people in Alaska? What do they raise 
in Alaska? 

What is the chief occupation in Alaska? 

What do we drink that comes from the East ? 

Could you live upon what is raised near your home? Mention 
the important things. 

What are people called who buy and sell? 

How are goods carried from one country to another? 




AN INDIAN FISH TRAP. 



HUNTING AND FISHING 

A long time ago people lived mostly by hunting 
and fishing. Every man had his bow and arrows 
and when he became hungry killed what animals he 
needed for food. He caught fish by means of traps 
made of sticks woven together. These he placed in 
a stream where there was a rapid or waterfall. 

When people became civilized they did not 
depend so much upon hunting and fishing for their 
food. They tamed some of the wild animals and 
raised large herds and flocks. They also discovered 

185 



1 86 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

that many wild plants could be made to furnish food 
when they were cultivated. 

We have much better weapons for killing wild 
animals than our grandfathers had a long time ago. 
Our guns have destroyed the animals so rapidly that 
in many places very few are left. 

We have also invented great nets and sharp 
hooks to catch fish, so that in many streams the fish 
are nearly gone. The ocean, however, is so large 
that we can never catch all the fish out of it. 

Is it not wrong to kill the animals and birds for 
sport? Our grandfathers killed them only when 
they were hungry. Our world would be rather 
lonely without the pretty birds and graceful animals. 
We must protect them instead of wastefully destroy- 
ing them. 

The most of the meat which is now used for 
food is supplied by animals that have been tamed. 
Food is only one of the many useful things which 
the herds of cattle and sheep afford us. 

Streams where much fishing is done are now 
supplied with young fish from places called hatch- 
eries. In such places fish are collected and their 
spawn or eggs saved. When the eggs are hatched 
the little fish are sent to those streams where they 
are needed. 

The most of the men whose occupation is fish- 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



ing live by the large lakes or along the ocean. They 
spend their whole lives catching" fish for the market. 
A part of the fish which they catch is sold fresh. 
Some kinds of fish are canned. Others are salted 
and dried. 




A FISH-WHEEL ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 



The life of the fisherman is a hard one. He 
has to be out in the rain and storm. He often 
spends days without catching anything. 

The whale and seal are hunted in the far north 
where the most of these animals make their home. 



1 88 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

The life of the whaler is more dangerous than that 
of the fisherman. He has to stay in the Arctic ocean 
and among" the icebergs for many months. Many 
whaling ships have been caught and crushed in the 
ice. 

We can no longer depend upou wild animals 
for our food, as people did long ago. There are 
more people in the world now and many of the 
animals which were abundant once have, all been 
killed. 

Some are found now in only a few places. 
These will soon be gone if we do not take better 
care of them. 

Birds, animals and fish furnish us many things 
that we need. We cannot do without them. They 
also help make our world a pleasant place in which 
to live. 



QUESTIONS. 

Can you mention some of the animals that our grandfathers used 
to hunt? 

Mention the most important animals that have been tamed. 

What ones supply us with meat? 

What wild birds have been tamed? 

What do these birds now supply us with? 

Mention some of the things obtained from the whale. 

What fish are canned ? What ones salted and dried ? 

What animals are hunted near your home ? 




FARMING. 



Who is it that raises our corn and wheat? 
Who is it that comes to town with fat chickens and 
bright red apples? We call him the farmer, and his 
work farming. 

We think there is no nicer place than a pretty 
farm to spend a part of the summer. There we can 
get fresh butter and milk and pure water. We have 
such happy times romping in the fields and woods. 
There are no narrow streets and tall buildings to 
shut out the sun. The work of the farmer is hard, 
but he has the bright, happy world about him. 

The farmer boy often thinks the farm is not a 
pleasant place. He wants to go to the city. He 
forgets how much he would lose if he left the farm. 

He has around him the birds and animals, and green 

189 



190 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



trees. He can go swimming and fishing. In the 
city he would be like a bird in a cage. 

There are many different kinds of farming. In 
one place the soil and climate make fine apples. 
There the country is dotted with orchards. 




PLOWING. 



In another place where the land is moist there 
are great meadows. There upon the meadows are 
thousands of cattle feeding. This is where butter 
and cheese are made. 

In the hot valleys where the summers are long 
and dry there are miles and miles of vineyards. 
Here they make raisins by drying the grapes in the 
sun. From the juice of the grapes wine is made. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 191 

Upon the plains and prairies we find wheat 
fields stretching as far as the eye can reach. How 
pretty the grain looks, when nearly ripe, waving in 




STACKING HAY. 



the afternoon breeze. From these fields the grain, 
after being ground into flour, is shipped to all parts 
of the world. 

Near the cities there are extensive gardens 
where many people are employed. Each morning 
some one comes to our doors bringing berries and 
vegetables fresh from these gardens. 

The best farms are where the soil is deep and 
there is plenty of water. In most places it rains 
enough so that the farmer can raise all he wishes. 
In other places ditches many miles long are dug. 



192 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

Through these, water is led from some river, and 
then allowed to flow over the land. This is called 
irrigation. 




AN IRRIGATING DITCH. 



In selecting a farm we think that the kind of 
soil is important. Water is even more important. 
Without water the richest soil would be only a 
desert. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



193 




IDEAL PLOWING 



QUESTIONS. 

What are the advantages of living on a farm? 
Where would you look for a farm, in the valley or on the moun- 
tain? Why 

Mention some of the grains which a farmer raises. 

What is necessary to make a good farm? 

What do the farmers raise near your home? 

Of what use are meadows? 

What kinds of work does the farmer boy have to do? 

How do farmers raise fruits and vegetables where it does not rain? 

Would you rather live on a farm or in the city? Why? 




COWBOY. 



STOCK RAISING. 



In the eastern part of our country the farms 
are small. Each farmer raises a few horses, cattle, 
and perhaps sheep. 

In the west the farms or ranches are often very 
large. They reach for miles and miles across the 
plains and over the mountains. Upon these large 
ranches they often raise nothing but stock. 

The farmer in the east keeps his cattle in a 
little field called a pasture. He may drive them to 
the barnyard every night. 



194 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



*95 



The land over which the cattle wander upon 
the great stock ranches is called the range. The 
men who look after the cattle are called cow-boys or 
vaqueros. Few people live upon these large ranches 
and the cattle become almost as wild as deer. 




A ROUNTD UP. 



Once a year the cattle are rounded up. The 
cow-boys ride over the ranch on horseback and 
gather all the cattle in a great bunch. It often takes 
them many days to do this. 

The steers that are full grown are separated in 
order to be driven away to market. The little calves 
are marked with a hot iron so that it may be known 



ig6 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



to whom they belong. This is called branding. 
What a bellowing the calves and their mothers 
make. The cattle are afraid of men on horseback, 
but it is not safe to go among them on foot. 

In some parts of the west there are bands of 



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A FLOCK OF SHEEP. 



wild horses. They have escaped from ranches and 
after many years become very wild. 

How full of life they appear as they dash across 
the plains. These horses are often called mustangs. 
They are so wild that it is difficult to break them to 
ride. 

Sheep and goats are not allowed to wander 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 1 97 

alone as the cattle do. They would be destroyed by 
the coyotes and mountain lions. 

The sheep are divided up so that there are one 
thousand to three thousand in each band. A man 
called a herder has charge of each band. With his 
shepherd dogs, who are very intelligent and trained 
to do whatever is needed, the herder keeps the sheep 
together. At night they are driven into a coral 
where they will be safe from the wild animals. 

Wherever you find a band of sheep in the 
mountains of the west you are sure to see a herder 
watching them. There he goes as the sheep feed 
along. He has a canteen upon his shoulder for 
carrying water, and a donkey by his side. The don- 
key carries his food and blankets. 

In this way the man follows the sheep from 
place to place through the summer. The life of a 
sheep herder is a very lonely one. 

Once or twice a year the sheep are washed and 
sheared. The wool is packed in bales and shipped 
to market. 



198 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

QUESTIONS. 

How do the vaqueros catch the wild horses and cattle ? 

Why are the cattle so wild upon the large ranches ? 

Would our milk cows become wild if they were turned loose in the 
mountains ? 

What uses are made of the different parts of the sheep ? 

Why are not the sheep allowed to run loose? 

Of what use are goats ? 

Have you ever seen a band of sheep? How do the herders drive 
them? 

Why do they brand the calves? 

In what different ways is meat preserved ? 

What names are given to the flesh of the pig ? 

Do you know what the food of the pig is ? 




BIG LOGS IN AN ACORTES — WASHINGTON MILL BOOM 



LUMBERPNG. 



Do you know where the lumber came from 
which was used in making your house? The boards 
and beams have an interesting story to tell. 

They were once a part of some tall pine trees in 
a dense forest. The forest covered many miles of 
the steep mountain sides. 

For many years the forest stood there. Each 
year the trees grew a little larger and taller. Perhaps 
you have seen the rings in a saw log. These show 
the number of years that the tree has been growing. 
One ring represents a year. 

199 



■X'' ■ 







FELLING LONG-LEAF YELLOW PINE TREES, LOUISIANA 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



20I 



The older trees of the forest partly decayed, 
and the winter storms threw them to the ground. 
Each year some of the nuts in the pine cones 
escaped the eyes of the watchful squirrels. Some 
of these nuts became covered in the earth and 




CUTTING UP LONG-LEAF PINE, LOUISIANA 



sprouted, soon forming baby pines. The little pines 
slowly grew up and took the places of the older 
trees. 

At last some men found the forest. The trees 
suited them and they sent other men with saws and 
axes to cut the trees down. After being cut down 




LOG JAM IN THE MOUNTAINS, BY BLACKFOOT RIVER, MONTANA 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



203 



they were sawed into logs. When the snow came 
oxen were hitched to great sleds, and the logs were 
hauled to the bank of the nearest river. 

In the spring, when the snow melted and the 
river rose, the logs were rolled into the water. Away 




SAW MILL AND BOOM OF LUGS. 



they went in great numbers, almost hiding the river. 
The logs floated down the river for miles and at last 
stopped at a big dam before a sawmill. 

Then one by one the logs were pulled out of the 
water and run into the mill. How interesting the 
machinery is! It picks up each log as easily as 
you would a little stick. Very soon the buzzing 




HAULING LOG UP INCLINE INTO MILL OF CURTIS LUMBER COMPANY, 
MILL CITY, OREGON 




' CUTTING REDWOOD TREES IN CALIFORNIA 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



205 



saws have changed the rough logs to smooth, clean 
boards. 

Railroads are now built into the forests and the 
logs are hauled out on the cars. The sawmills are 




A LUMBER FLUME 



placed where the lumber can be shipped to market 
easily. They are sometimes upon a bay by the 
ocean. Sometimes they are upon a river if the river 
is large enough for boats to come up to the mill. 

How do you suppose the lumber is shipped to 
market from the sawmills high up ia the mountains? 




REDWOOD LOGS FROM FOREST TO MILL 





Kft'#* 




.iSfj nic ._ 



LUMBER CAMP IN OPEN WOODS, FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 207 

The lumbermen build what is called a flume. This 
is a V-shaped trough made of planks. The flume is 
extended around the mountain sides and along the 
canons for many miles. It is made to slope enough 
so that the water will run through it swiftly. When 
everything is ready water is turned into the flume. 
The lumber is thrown into the water, and away it is 
carried, mile after mile, until it reaches the end of 
the flume. There it is placed upon boats or cars. 

We ought to be careful of our beautiful forests. 
They have been many years in growing. They 
shelter the birds and the animals. They protect the 
soil from drying out. 

It takes so many, many years for a little pine to 
become a great tree, that if we are not careful of the 
forests they will soon be gone. We should guard 
our forests well, and set out young trees as fast as 
we cut the old ones down. 

QUESTIONS. 

How does wood look when it is decaying? 

Describe the way in which the cones hold the little nuts. 

Why should we be careful of the forests? 

How many years do you suppose it takes a large tree to grow? 

Mention all the different kinds of trees used for lumber. 

What is the kind most commonly used? 

Where did the lumber in your house come from? 

Describe what you have seen in the woods. 



THE COUNTRY STORE. 

Perhaps you live in the country. If you do, 
you can tell us something about the store near by. 

The store may be the center of the little world 
in which you live. There your father goes to buy 
the sugar, flour and many other things which you 
need. There, in most country villages, the post-office 
is located. 

Can you tell why the store was put where it is? 
Look around carefully and perhaps you can discover 
the reason. If you learn to understand the little 
world about your home it will help to make interest- 
ing the study of the large world which lies beyond. 

We see first that the store is often upon a corner 
where two roads cross each other. It was placed 
here so that it could be reached easily by the people 
living near by. 

You would not look for a store where there 
were no people. People live mostly in valleys where 
the climate is pleasant and the soil is rich. 

If many people come to live in the country near 
the store there will be much buying and selling. 
All of the business cannot be carried on in one store 

and a little town may grow up. 

208 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 209 

There will be a post-office in one building, a 
dry-goods store in another, and a hotel in still 
another. There will have to be a blacksmith shop, 
and a school house and perhaps a church. Many 
people will come to sell what they have raised, and 
get other things in exchange. 

Thus we see that a little store well situated for 
trade may be the beginning of a town. 

There are other places in which a town may be 
built. A mill is placed near a waterfall in the river. 
People come to the mill to have their grain made 
into flour. A post-office is started there and finally 
a school. If the water power is good the town may 
at last grow to be a city. 

A town may also grow up where there is a 
mine. Such a town does not depend upon fertile 
land or mills to bring people. The mine may be a 
coal mine. Coal is needed for many purposes and 
people will go almost anywhere to get it. 

You may also find a store upon a bay by the 
ocean. The bay offers protection to the fishermen. 
They bring their fish to the store to be shipped 
away and get their supplies in return. 

If the water of the bay is deep large ships will 
come in to unload and the business carried on will 
make a town. 

You will always find that there is a reason for 



2 TO HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

the store or town being placed where it is. This is 
either because of fertile lands near by or because of 
water power, or mining, or easy communication with 
the country around, or of trade with other parts of 
the world. 

QUESTIONS. 

Is your home near a store? Why was the store placed where 
it is? 

What business is carried on in the store ? 

Mention some of the things which the farmers bring to the store 
to sell. 

What do the farmers buy at the store ? 

Why is a mill often placed by a waterfall ? 

Why do you sometimes find a store upon a river or bay? 

Would you expect to find a store far from where people live? 

Where do you find the greater number of people, in the valleys 
or upon the mountains ? 

Mention some of the different occupations in a town. 




A CITY. 



SOMETHING ABOUT A CITY. 



A city is a collection of many people and houses. 
Why do so many people live in one place? What 
can all of them find to do? 

We have already learned that towns grow up 
where there is opportunity to trade. The town may 
be found in the valley, by the river, or upon the 
ocean shore. 

The town will grow and at last become a city if 
it is situated where manufacturing can be carried on, 
and goods received and shipped far over the earth. 

We will suppose that there was a little town in 
a rich valley near the mouth of a large river. Vessels 



211 



212 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



from across the ocean came into the harbor and 
unloaded their cargoes. Steamers were made to 
carry freight up and down the river, and railroads 
were built through the valleys. 

The farmers sent their grain, fruit, and cattle to 
the town, because they could do so easily. From 




SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE UNDERGROUND HUDSON TERMINAL STATION. 



the town the steamers could carry these things to all 
parts of the earth. 

The town was such a good place for trade and 
commerce that more and more people came there 
and found work. Finally manufactories of many 
kinds were started. Clothing and shoes could be 
made there cheaply. Mills were erected to grind 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



the grain. Great shops were needed for making 
machinery. Ships were built to help in carrying 
goods back and forth. 

We see now that there are many kinds of work 
going on. As people continue to come, the work 




HUDSON TERMINAL BUILDING, NEW YORK CITY. 

increases. Our little town has at last become a 
great city. 

What a noise and commotion there is! Rail- 
road trains are going and coming. Boats are sailing 
in and out of the bay. We can see smoke rising 
from hundreds of great chimneys. Men are at work 




WOOLWORTH BUILDING, NEW YORK 

(Copyright, 1911, by F. W. Woolworth) 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 21 5 

making things for the use of people all over the 
world. 

The land where the city stands has become very 
valuable. Many of the buildings have been made so 
high that we are almost afraid that they may tumble 
over some time. 

The streets are crowded with cars and teams, 
and mingled in all this confusion there are thousands 
of people. Some are going one way, some another. 
They all have work of some kind to do. 

People will not come and make a great city 
where there are no rich lands, or bays for ships to 
anchor safely in. Cities grow up where there are 
the best opportunities to carry on trade and manu- 
facture goods. 

The position of the city is determined by the 
character of the land, the river, and the sea coast. 

QUESTIONS. 

Tell us some things about any city that you have seen. 

Why was the city built where it is? 

How are goods sent away from the city, by land, or river, or 
ocean? 

What kinds of work have you seen going on in the city? 

Do you think the city is a good place in which to live? If so, 
why? 

How do people travel in a city? 

Why are the buildings made so tall? 

Of what different materials are the buildings made? 




CUTTING SUGAR CANE. 



THE MAKING OF SUGAR. 

Where does our sugar come from? Does 
Nature prepare it for us, or do we have to work 
hard and long to get it? 

The little boy from the south knows something 
about sugar. He says that it is made from the 
sugar cane. Another boy, who lives in a northern 
216 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



217 



valley, says that it is made from sugar beets. He 
has seen the beets growing over hundreds of acres. 
A third boy, whose home is among the wooded hills 
of the northern states, has never seen the sugar cane. 
He has helped the men make sugar from the sap of 




WEIGHING SUGAR ON THE LEVEE AT NEW ORLEANS 



the maple tree. He thinks that maple sugar is 
better than any of the other kinds of sugar. 

Each little boy knew something about sugar, 
but not all. 

Much of the sugar which we use is made 
from the juice of the sugar cane. The growing 
sugar cane looks something like stalks of Indian 



2l8 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

corn. If you could bite a young stalk of sugar cane 
you would then understand how sweet its juice is. 

The juice is obtained from the cane by pressing 
it between heavy rollers. The sweet liquid is then 
purified and evaporated. By this we mean that the 
water is driven off until there is left only a dark, 
thick syrup. The sugar crystallizes from the syrup 
just as salt does from water. Put a little salt in a 
dish of water. When the water has nearly dried up 
crystals of salt will commence to form around the 
edge of the basin. 

After the sugar has crystallized, the syrup that 
is left is given another name. It is called molasses. 
The sugar is not white at first. It has to go 
through many processes before it comes out white 
and granular and ready for use upon our tables. 

We have all seen beets growing in the garden 
and have often eaten them. You would hardly 
think that they contained much sugar. Beets grow 
best in the dark rich soil of the temperate climate. 

It is much more difficult to get the sugar from 
beets than it is from sugar cane. The beets after 
being dug are carried in wagons to the mill or 
factory. There they are washed and then crushed. 
The juice obtained is treated in many different ways. 
At last it comes out as white sugar which you can 
hardly tell from cane sugar. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



219 



The children of cold climates are, I am sure, 
most interested in maple sugar. The sap of many 
trees is sweet to taste, but that of the maple tree 
is best of all. 

In the spring the trees begin to awake from 
their winter sleep. The sun warms the air; and 
the warm air sends the sap up again from the roots 
through the trunk and branches. Soon the buds 
will swell and the leaves will come out. 




HAULING THE SAP. 



When the sap first begins to flow up the tree- 
trunks men go into the woods and bore holes in the 
trees. Then they drive spouts into the holes. The 
spouts carry the sap away and let it fall drop by 
drop into pails which are placed underneath. 

When the pails are full they are carried to a 



220 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

great kettle and the sap is emptied into it. A hot 
fire is kept up under the kettle and the sap is boiled 
down until it forms a thick syrup or molasses. 

How nice the syrup tastes when it has become 
thick. When the syrup has boiled enough it is 
emptied into small dishes. As soon as it is cold we 
have our cakes of maple sugar. This sugar is better 
than candy and more healthful. 

QUESTIONS. 

From what three things is sugar obtained? 

What fruits taste sweet? Do these contain sugar? 

Is there sugar in honey? Where do the bees get the honey? 

What is meant by evaporate? By crystallize? 

How is maple sugar made? 

Where is sugar cane grown? 




WHAT THE COW FURNISHES US. 



No other animal is so useful to us as the cow. 
W T e ought to be very grateful to our grandfathers 
who so long ago tamed the wild cattle. If the cattle 
had not been tamed they would all have been killed. 
How gentle the cow looks. She is not afraid of us 
and does not use her horns to hook us. 

Let us see what the cow furnishes us. One of 
the most important things is milk. Milk contains 
everything which we need to keep us alive and make 
us grow. 

From milk we get butter and cheese. When 
milk stands for several hours the cream rises to the 
top and forms a thin layer over the milk. The 
cream was at first scattered all through the milk in 
the form of tiny globules. 

The cream is skimmed from the surface of the 



22 I 



2 22 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

milk and placed in a churn. There it is tumbled 
about until the little globules of cream have united 
to form the solid mass of yellow butter. 

Do you know how cheese is made? The milk 
is first curdled by putting into it some liquid rennet. 
Rennet is the name given to a preparation made from 
the inner coating of the calf's stomach. The curd is 
separated from the watery part of the milk, which is 
called whey, and then pressed into solid cakes. The 
curd is then called cheese. 

When cattle are killed nearly all the parts are 
used for some purpose. We eat the meat and think 
it very good. " A part of the meat is eaten fresh, 
other parts are either preserved by being placed in 
salt water, called brine, or dried in the open air. 

The skin is tanned and made into leather for 
our shoes. The hair which is taken off the skin is 
also saved. It is mixed in the mortar with which 
our houses are plastered. The hair helps to make 
the mortar stick upon the walls. 

The bones are first burned and then ground to 
a fine powder. Bones contain substances which 
plants need for food. Where the soil does not con- 
tain enough of these substances the bone dust is 
scattered over it. Thus the plants are made to grow 
stronger and larger. 

Even the hoofs are saved. They are boiled in 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 223 

water and glue is made from them. The horns are 
not thrown away but are made into a number of things 
among the most important of which are combs. 

QUESTIONS. 

What uses are made of milk? 

What other animals beside the cow give milk for our use? 

What is curd? 

Describe the hoof of the cow. 

Tell about some of the different ways by which meat is preserved. 

For what is glue used? 

Mention some of the different uses of leather. 

Why do the cows have horns? 




A MOTH. 



THE STORY OF THE SILKWORM. 



A silkworm is not a real worm, but an insect. 
True worms remain worms during the whole of their 
life history. The common earthworm which you see 
upon the ground after a rain is a real worm. 

The life history of an insect is not at all like 
that of a worm. Each of the eggs of an insect 
hatches into a little worm-like animal, or caterpillar. 
After living a number of days the caterpillar changes 
into a pupa or chrysalis. In this condition it has a 

hard case and is helpless. Now it undergoes a slow 

224 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 2 2 5 

change and after a time emerges as a perfect insect 
with wings. 

Thus we see that the insect during a part of its 
life looks like a worm, but during another part like 
a very different creature. 

The hairy little caterpillar which you one 
day watched crawling over the ground may 
have been the same insect which, at a later time, 
as a pretty butterfly, you chased over the 
meadows. 

Have you not seen the prettily marked cases, 
from one half to three fourths of an inch long, 
hanging from a board or limb? If you happen to 
find one at just the right time you will see the 
insect break the case and come out a perfect moth 
or butterfly. 

In a short time its wings, which were tightly 
folded in the case, will be expanded, and it will fly 
away through the air. 

This butterfly will lay eggs which will, in time, 
hatch into other caterpillars. Is not this a strange 
story? 

The silkworm came from China. It has been 
known there for hundreds and perhaps thousands of 
years. It is now raised in many parts of the world 
where the weather is not too cold. 

The larva or young insect is a little caterpillar. 




FROM EGG TO MOTH. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 227 

In the earlier part of its life it is hairy, but as it 
grows it loses its hair and looks more like a worm. 
This is the reason it is called the silkworm. 

The caterpillars, or larvae, are given all they can 
eat of the soft green leaves of the mulberry tree. 
Where silkworms are raised many such trees have to 
be cultivated to supply the necessary amount of 
leaves. 

The larvae are always hungry and very great 
eaters. During their growth they shed their skins 
several times. The skin does not grow with the 
body of the caterpillar, and when it becomes too 
tight, it cracks and comes off, a. new one having 
formed under it. 

When fully grown the caterpillar spins a cocoon 
of silk about itself, the silk being taken from the 
lower jaw. 

It wraps itself up in about one thousand yards 
of very fine thread. In this way is formed a whitish 
or yellowish case which is about one inch in length. 
In this case, snugly tucked away, the insect goes to 
sleep, until after having undergone a slow change, 
he awakes as a moth and bursts the cocoon. 

When the cocoons are to be used for their silk, 
they are not allowed to hatch. At a certain time the 
insect is killed and the silken threads are unwound. 
This work is done by the aid of machinery. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 229 

You can see that it must take many cocoons to 
make one yard of silk cloth. The different colors of 
the silk are given the threads before they are woven 
into cloth. 



QUESTIONS. 

How does the silkworm differ from a real worm? 

Describe the appearance of a caterpillar. 

What is the cocoon? What is the chrysalis? 

Mention some real worms. 

What is meant by larva? By moth? 

Mention a number of insects. 

Have you ever seen a butterfly emerge from the chrysalis? 

What was it before it became inclosed in the chrysalis? 

Mention the uses of the mulbery tree. Does it bear any fruit? 

What is the fruit like? 

Do all insects fly? 

Does the silkworm have wings after emerging from the cocoon? 

Where does the most of our silk come from? 

Where was silk first made? 



THE HOME IN THE DESERT. 

My home is in the desert. Did you ever see a 
desert? I will tell you about it. 

The desert is a great valley where it seldom 
rains. The ground is almost level as far as you can 
see. Mountains lie all around the valley, but they 
are ever so far away. 

There is little soil in the desert. For miles 
and miles there is yellow sand and gravel. 

In the middle of the desert where the ground is 
lowest the sand is covered by something white. 
What can this white substance be? It is not snow, 
for it is too warm here. If you will taste a little of 
it you will find that it is soda. Perhaps your mother 
has used some of the soda from this desert in 
making bread. 

Father helps gather the soda. This is the 
reason we live in the desert. Father says there was 
once a time when it rained here. Then there was a 
lake where the bed of soda is now. The soda was 
dissolved in the water just as sugar is dissolved in 
your tea. When the water of the lake dried up the 

soda was left upon the surface of the desert. The 

230 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 23 I 

water went off in the thirsty air, but the soda, like 
the salt in the ocean, could not escape in this way. 

It is very hot upon the desert. We are sorry 
to see the sun come up and glad when it goes down. 
Where do you suppose we get our water? We need 
a great deal to drink for the air is so dry. Men 
have died upon this desert because they could not 
find water. 

Our water comes in an iron pipe. If you will 
follow the pipe for many miles over the hot sand 
you will at last come to the mountains. There in a 
cafion hidden from the hot sun is a little spring of 
pure water. 

How the wind does blow sometimes! The air 
is then so full of dust that we can hardly breathe. 
It is not safe to go far from the house when a dust 
storm is raging. 

It is very lonesome here. There are no trees. 
There are no flowers and green grass to tell us when 
spring comes. There is nothing growing in the 
sand but a few low bushes. These are called grease- 
wood. In some places there are bunches of cactuses. 
This is a queer plant. It has thick stems and long 
hooked thorns. We keep as far away from it as we 
can. 

There are no song birds here. The most com- 
mon bird is the road-runner. He is a strange fellow. 



232 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

He has long legs and tail, and runs swiftly over the 
desert. 

There are only a few animals. Of course we 
have mice. Besides these there are the lizards and 
horned toads. The lizards dart over the sand and 
are out of sight almost before we can get a look at 
them. They appear to guide themselves by their 
long tails. The toads have little horns upon their 
heads. When it is cold they bury themselves in the 
sand. The warmer it becomes during the long days 
the more they seem to like it. They are just the 
color of the sand. 

The rattlesnakes we are afraid of. They are 
not large, but very quick and poisonous. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



233 




THE HOME BY THE OCEAN. 

Would you like to know about my home by the 
ocean? We live in a very pleasant place. We 
never get tired of playing upon the beach and 
watching the ships sail by. 

When a ship first comes in sight we can see 
only the tops of the sails. These grow larger and 
larger and at last the whole of the boat comes in 
sight. If we climb to the top of a hill we can see 
the boat much sooner. Our teacher says that we see 
the tops of the boats first because the earth is round. 



234 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

Some of the ships come from the other side of the 
world, for the fishermen once took us out to one and 
the captain let us see the sugar and oranges and 
bananas which he had brought thousands of miles. 

The water in the ocean behaves very strangely. 
It is always moving up or down. Twice every day 
it rises and sometimes we are afraid that it will flow 
over the land where our home is. But it always 
stops and then goes down again. 

This rising and falling of the water the fisher- 
men call the tide. When the tide is out it is great 
fun to climb over the rocks and see what the water 
has left. There are little ponds where we find 
strange looking fish, bright-colored sea-weeds, shells, 
star-fish, and many other things. 

In some places there are great stretches of mud 
flats when the tide is out. There we find different 
kinds of clams buried in the mud. 

When the wind blows hard there are great 
waves. They break with such force upon the shore 
that even the hard rocks are worn away. They are 
slowly tearing down the bank in front of our 
home. Once a ship was blown ashore and the 
waves soon broke it to pieces. 

There are many pretty pebbles upon the beach. 
They have been worn smooth by the waves which 
are always throwing them about. 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 235 

We wonder if there are hills and valleys beneath 
the ocean as there are on the land. The fishermen 
say that in most places the bottom of the ocean is 
smooth. There are no brooks and rivers in the 
ocean to dig out valleys as there are on the land. 

We have learned that the shore of the ocean 
has not always been where it is now. At the foot 
of the hill back of our home there is a layer of shells 
like those in the ocean, and a whole field of smooth 
pebbles. 

We love to study geography because we have 
discovered so many things along the ocean that we 
have read about. 



THE TIDES. 

'As once I played beside the sea, 
Its waters gently came to me, 
To bring me sea-weed, stones, and shells 
And wash the sand where I dig wells. 
But when I went another day, 
The waters slowly flowed away, 
To gather shells and pebbles more 
For me to play with, on the shore." 



236 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 




WHERE GO THE BOATS. 

Dark brown is the river, 

Golden is the sand, 
It flows along forever, 

With trees on either hand. 

Green leaves a-floating, 

Castles of the foam, 
Boats of mine a-boating — 

Where will all come home? 

On goes the river 
And out past the mill, 

Away down the valley, 
Away down the hill. 

Away down the river, 
A hundred miles or more, 

Other little children 
Shall bring my boats ashore. 



— Stevenson 




A PICTURE. 



WHAT IS A MAP? 

We have before us a picture of a rocky coast. 
The picture shows what we would see if we visited 
the place. Can you mention the different forms of 
land and water in the picture? 

In the front of the picture there is a high, rocky 
point with trees upon it. Behind the point and 
partly hidden you can see a deep bay. The ocean 
waves have torn away the land behind the point and 
are still making the bay larger. 

Upon the farther side of the entrance to the bay 

is another rocky point. Between the two points there 

are two low rocky islands over which the waves dash. 

237 



238 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

In the back part of the picture there are hills. 
There seems to be an opening between the hills 
where there must be a valley with a river flowing 
through it to the ocean. 

Our picture is taken from the top of a hill. 
You could not see so much if you were down near 
the level of the water. If we were still higher in 
the air we could see more of the bay and get a 
glimpse of the river. Such a view we might call a 
bird's eye view, because it is what we could see if we 
were up where the birds go. 

If we could go up very high in a balloon and 
look directly down upon the country shown in the 
picture it would look quite different still. Then if 
we took a pencil and tried to make a picture of what 
we saw we should draw the coast line with its bend- 
ings in and out, the bays and rocky points, islands, 
and the river flowing to the ocean. Our picture 
shows that the different portions of the land vary in 
height, but far up in a balloon we could not distin- 
guish the height of things. All that we could make 
out clearly would be their outlines. 

Now the drawing which we make of the differ- 
ent forms of the land and water which we can see 
looking directly down upon them is called a map. 
Our drawing or map represents the earth as though 
it were flat. We cannot tell how high the hills or 



HOME GEOGRAPHY. 



239 



the cliffs along the ocean are. We can tell, however, 
that in one place the land is smooth and in another 
rough. We can put upon our map then some shad- 
ing to indicate where the rough, hilly places are. 






1" mi* 1 ' 










^,y x*v x \\i' 'Win' '/,,, 'w,,, 




MAR 



We could not make a map exactly correct while 
in a balloon. To make a correct map we would need 
to take a measuring line and compass, and walk all 
over the country of which we wanted to make a map. 
We would measure the position and direction from 
each other of the points, the islands, the bay and the 
river. 

You cannot make a map as large as the country 



240 HOME GEOGRAPHY. 

over which you would walk. What is to be done? 
You might take one inch upon your ruler and let it 
represent one hundred feet of distance upon the land. 
Then if the two points at the entrance of the bay are 
five hundred feet apart you will lay off five inches 
upon your paper. 

Maps are of much use to us. They represent 
different portions of the earth's surface. We can 
look upon a map and tell what there is in a certain 
place without having to go to that place. 



